Fractured Marionette
by BuggyFiction
Summary: [DARK FIC] He believed ending a nearby vampire community was a political move. Klaus never expected his brother to bring home a stray from in a bleeding heart decision. Just what had these creatures done to this broken, young woman who never experienced a normal, human life? And how did he have a hand in her life before he even met her?
1. Breaking The Glass

**Author's Note: I'm going to slap a big ass warning on this. This fic can get really really dark, but as always, I try to put a lot of humor in it as well.**

 **I'll say it again: This fic deals with dark themes. Lots of possible triggers for (implied) rape, sexual slavery, tropes, grooming, communal abuse. If this is not your cup of tea, don't read it.**

 **This story WILL have a happy ending, but the first 8 chapters will be quite dark.**

* * *

He usually had the TV on for background noise when he was working, finding his new project to help out New Orleans with or another carefully constructed plan to save his family from doing idiotic things. Now that Kol had was resurrected and in his rightful body, Elijah had his hands full. Thankfully, Kol's stint as a human had tempered the young vampire a little bit, and he was less rambunctious than he was before.

However, what he heard on the news was somewhat troubling. Thanks to modern technology he could rewind to the beginning and watched with interest how the story unfolded.

 _Cults have become somewhat of a rarity with the decrease in certain religious sects, but that doesn't mean that they're not still around in a different way. Various law enforcement agencies have disbanded one today that lived in secret for years in Louisiana. Not a lot is known about this community, but as you can see from the footage we acquired, it's unlikely that it was a religious cult. Carlisle Cullen and his son Edward were arrested, and another fifty people were taken in for assessment._

 _This action has been the dream of several family members who've lost their loved ones to this movement over the years. They have been fighting for the release of their relatives for years and telling the police about their suspicions and are now relieved that soon, they'll be able to put their arms around them again. The police doesn't believe they're dealing with an actual cult, more of a group of people gathered in a community with like minded thinking._

 _Mr. Billy Black, from Forks, Washington, was present when his son Jacob emerged from the gates, seemingly unharmed, with his arm around an unidentified young woman who seemed upset and scared upon exiting. Jacob Black, a Native American, 26, joined the collective a couple years ago after becoming disillusioned with his tribe. Jacob, much like the others who have been taken into custody, will be assessed and released again. Law enforcement agencies have set up a good safety system to help these people._

 _While some members joined on their own volition, rumors are that some were born into the collective that has been around for some fifty of years. We will get back to you once we have more information about this developing story._

Elijah blinked when he saw the footage. So it was true then. They had co-existed with the Cullens for at least fifty years, knowing of their kind, but had always left them in peace as they didn't seem to be harmful in any way. They had kept to themselves, which was probably why they had managed to stay under the radar for quite some time.

Annoyance grew when out of the other room, he could hear his brother laugh, and it was then that he knew. "Niklaus!" Elijah bellowed before storming into his brother's study. "What did you do?"

"I eliminated my boredom, brother," Klaus smirked at him. "Oh, you should see your face right now, come, have a look in the mirror."

"Are you drunk?"

"Quite possibly."

"Do you have any idea what you've done?" Elijah was angry with his brother, furious that his brother had a hand in the Cullen's discovery. "You have just kicked open a door we like to keep closed, what if it comes to light what they truly are?"

"Oh, but that's part of the fun, brother," Klaus grinned as he sat down on the sofa. "I have to admit, it wasn't just my idea, I'm pretty sure our brother is watching it unfold in person."

"I think we should put Kol back in his box, this is getting out of hand."

"Relax, Elijah! Have some fun! Look at the misery on the Cullen's faces!"

"Yes, and who are the innocent people they surrounded themselves with?"

"Collateral damage and now free."

Elijah groaned as he rubbed his temples to get rid of an impending phantom headache. "I'll tell you, Niklaus, nothing good will come out of this."

"And just what good do you think came of those sparkling parasites controlling the humans as they were? Tell me dear brother, where are your morals when they were thinking themselves royalty practically under our noses all this time? Hm?" Klaus questioned as he stepped up to his brother and held his arms behind his back as he looked at him curiously. "What would you have done? Walked up to their door? Knocked and perhaps asked to share a spot of tea? Maybe politely suggested releasing their humans? I doubt that plan would have gotten far knowing how they tend to operate. Particularly with the Cullens."

Elijah was quiet for a moment before he caught on. "You had someone on the inside."

"Of bloody course I've had someone inside! I'm not stupid nor am I callous to the plight of the humans that are in their care! Our brother and a wolf are tending to them as we speak," he finished, his voice softer as he turned away.

"Oh, brilliant. You send our brother to do damage control," Elijah scoffed. "And a wolf? Which one?"

"A shifter. You don't know him," he sighed as he rolled his eyes. "If you are so unhappy the way I handled things, then why don't you go and look into matters yourself. Go on! You are just going to try to take over no matter what I have to say."

Elijah thought for a moment. "I think not. I'll let you handle this on your own. You seem to have it all worked out, Niklaus. I'll wait until it's my turn to help you, as always."

Klaus eyed him, cocking his head to the side. "Somehow I doubt that, but if that is true… You did seem rather enthralled by the story. If you truly wish to be involved in helping the darling innocents, then you are most welcome to join Kol. I have no qualms with you doing your own thing. He is only making sure that anything of our world remains hidden."

"Fine," Elijah said simply as he handed his brother his coat. "But then you're coming with me."

"Why do I need to come with you?"

"You started all of this, you'll see to it that it ends well."

"The Cullens started this by getting power hungry!"

"Either you come with me now, or I will go over there and remove Kol from interfering with the humans."

Klaus growled at him unhappily, scowling at being manipulated into having to do something he had intended to have others do for him. Grabbing his jacket, he stormed past his brother and down the stairs. "Let's get this over with," he muttered on his way to the door before stopping short, blinking as an attractive, fresh scent soon crossed his senses.

"Greetings, brothers," Kol had just set foot on the staircase. "I come bearing gifts! She's a little unconscious but yes, a gift."

"What did you do Kol?" Klaus whispered. "You weren't supposed to bring any back."

"Well, your buddy said that she's different from the others. We couldn't find any paperwork on her to begin with, and he said that if she gets caught in the system, she'll get lost. So I brought her here," Kol said quietly, still holding on to the girl.

He growled as he avoided looking at her, choosing to focus on his brother. "So he couldn't take her to his tribe?"

"She's mute, so don't worry about noise or anything."

"I doubt that very much. The Cullens don't exactly work that way," he murmured as he turned his eyes upward. "Take her upstairs for now and call Rebekah or Cami to get her cleaned up. We'll figure out what to do with her later. She is not staying here, though."

"Sure she's not," Kol smirked as he walked past his brothers and brought the girl to an empty room. "Sister! Are you home?"

"I don't think this will go well, Niklaus."

Klaus hadn't moved from where he had stopped frozen in place. Letting his breath out slowly, he closed his eyes and turned his head away. "For once, you and I might agree on something. However, until we know more, who are we to turn the girl away?"

Elijah blinked at his brother and shook his head. "You'll have to talk to Camille about this girl, find the best way to approach her and handle her. If there's no suitable way, we'll compel her and let her go on her way."

"The human way."

"Exactly."

Klaus shrugged and tried not to breathe in the new scent as it made him feel slightly euphoric. "Very well, I'll go and talk to Camille. You keep your nose clean, brother, as you always do." He grabbed his phone out of his pocket and dialed Cami's number before strolling back to his study, relieved that he didn't have to go out there and see the people the Cullens had victimized. He trusted his brother Kol in having done a job well done. If not, they'd soon find out anyway.

~o.O.o~

"And she hasn't come out of her room?"

"No, Camille," Klaus sighed as he pointed at the closed door. "Rebekah cleaned her up as well as she could and handed her something to wear, but neither of us has gone in, and she hasn't come out yet."

"And you think I'm the best person to do this? I don't know anything about communes and their psychology."

"You are the psychology major," he growled in warning, his patience wearing thin.

"Fine, fine," Cami threw up her hands in defeat and walked to the kitchen. She knew Klaus was following her, and that was fine, but if she were to walk into an unknown situation, she'd better come bearing gifts. Of course she had watched the news and of course it had peaked her interest, but never in a million years had she expected that she was going to have to shrink one of the survivors.

"Don't make anything fancy, I've heard that she had a very dull and strict diet."

She sighed as she grabbed a piece of bread, buttered it and put some cheese on it before finish making a cup of tea and headed back upstairs, once again being stalked by Klaus. "Stop it, you're making me nervous."

"I'll be in my study."

"Thank you."

"Listening in."

"Of course," Cami said as she waited at the closed door for Klaus to disappear and knocked on the door before entering. At first, she didn't see anything. The bed was a mess, and if she had to be honest, the whole room looked uninviting. Surely the Mikaelsons could have done something better? "Glad to see you awake," Cami said into nothingness as she set the food down on the table and quietly sat down in one of the chairs. "I'm Cami."

She saw some movement underneath the bed. Since the bed was quite low to the ground, she wondered how short the girl was, or how underfed she was. "I can understand you're scared, but you don't have to be. We don't want to hurt you. Why won't you come out from underneath the bed and have something to eat?"

The girl slid out from under the bed and looked down to her feet as she walked towards the table and sat down on her knees to start to eat the sandwich. Camille's heart broke. It was the girl seen on the news, the one that had been so upset, and she looked as if she could use a few more pounds on her body. The way the girl devoured the simple sandwich was cause for concern too, and Cami put her hand over the mug of hot tea when the girl reached for it. "No, that's still too hot. I don't want you to burn yourself."

The girl flinched as she rocked back on her feet. Having finished the sandwich, she just sat there on her knees, hands in her lap, eyes down. "You have nothing to be afraid of," Cami said kindly. "What's your name?" The girl mouthed something, and it was that she was sort of alright with reading lips due to her job in a noisy bar, she smiled. "Nice to meet you, Bella."

Camille gently blew in the tea for it to cool down a little bit. "Must be strange to be taken out of your home and to wake up in a new one, but I assure you, you're safe here. The family you're with are good people and they want to help you, for you to get back to your family." The girl, still not looking at Cami, smiled at that. "Do you know who your parents are?"

The girl nodded.

"Can you tell me?"

She shook her head as she squeezed her hand tightly.

"That's okay, you don't have to tell me," Camille made sure she didn't sound disappointed or angry, just kind. She kept blowing on the tea as she noticed the slight aggravation in the girl. "I'm too nosy for my sake anyway."

After a few minutes of simply observing the girl, the girl suddenly shot forward and grabbed the tea to drink it. The way she drank it made Cami think she was parched and hoped that the tea had cooled down enough. Even if it was too hot, the girl wasn't flinching. Her eyes flew up to the door when there was some knocking. "It's okay," Cami said soothingly, reaching out for the girl, but she only dropped the now empty tea mug and backed away from Cami.

"Camille, can you come out, please?" Elijah's voice sounded, causing Bella to scatter away back underneath the bed. Sighing, Cami grabbed the empty plate and empty mug, realizing that for today, she wasn't going to get more of the girl, but she had seen enough. She opened the door, revealing Elijah, in his suit, waiting for her to come out. When she looked over her shoulder, she could see that Bella was looking at him from underneath the bed too.

"I'll see you soon, Bella," Cami smiled at her. "Don't worry too much, okay? Everything's going to be alright." She gently closed the door and looked at Elijah. "Did you have to do that!" she breezed as she pushed the plate and mug into his hands. "Why did you do that!"

"To give you something to observe, of course," Elijah replied as he followed her to Klaus' study, where the rest of the family was waiting for Camille's assessment. "I think you were successful?"

"You're a jerk," she pointed out. "That girl is scared out of her wits. I don't think she'll be able to stay here with you Alpha males in charge."

"We could always just compel her," Elijah suggested. "Make her part of the society again in a heartbeat."

"No," Cami shook her head, but Kol and Klaus said the same thing. "Look, you could compel her to take away the fear of being in a strange situation or having to deal with you guys, but to force a new life on her? I'm not sure that will stick."

"Sure it will, we're the Original Vampires."

"Yeah, and you know what, buddy?" Cami shot at Elijah. "You're an Original idiot. Bella needs to heal. She needs to find her own way. What do you know about her, anyway? I went in there blind."

"Isn't that the point? You see more when you go in blind," Klaus teasingly.

"Nik's friend told me that she was a special one. Not just because there wasn't any paperwork on her," Kol said quietly, leaning against the desk.

Camille looked at him curiously. "Why is she special? What makes her different from the others?"

"According to him, she was raised as a baby with the Cullens. Now, I'm not sure if that's true, but she hasn't seen the outside in a very long time."

"Reason enough that compelling her a life wouldn't work. All she knows is the supernatural. What else does he know or even suspect? Any information I can get would help," she asked as she looked between each of them.

"He didn't want to share much, to be honest. Only that she's had it rough. I couldn't compel his shifter ass either, maybe Nik can convince him to give him more information on her. She's a mute. Does that help?"

"She's not a mute. At least I don't think she is," Cami said. "I'll have to work with her to see, but it looks more like she was conditioned not to speak."

Klaus was quiet, growing more furious as he looked at his older brother.

"I do not wish to entertain all the possibilities that the Cullens could have done to her," Elijah said quietly. "Cold Ones aren't known for their… kindness, only when it suits them."

"They molded a human being into something they want," Klaus spat at his brother. "And you still think it was a stupid idea for us to intervene?"

Camille stared at the two, wondering what was going on. There was something unsaid that she wasn't getting, and it was clearly going to make things much harder all around. "Whatever your issues are with one another this time, you need to figure it out or get over it if you are set on helping that girl. The last thing she needs is another hostile environment. Make this place as safe as you can for her. For originals, I hope you lot can manage that."

"Of course," Kol huffed as he pushed himself off the desk. "We're not monsters!" He said in Cami's face as he passes her on his way out. "I have things to do... Whores to see..."

"Pick up of items our guest could use..." Elijah added, not missing a beat. "Clothes... Toiletries..."

Kol let out a whine followed by a "Fine!" As his footsteps could already be heard on the stairs.

"Now please, knock on her door, slowly open it to reveal yourself and introduce yourselves to her, even if you can't see her. You're her hosts, for god's sake!" Cami said to the remaining Mikaelsons as she followed Kol out. She had research to do. "And make this a livable bedroom," she added under her breath.


	2. The First Step

The girl was asleep when Elijah brought her some food. He expected that she'd probably sleep for a long time, but maybe the scent of food would briefly allow her to wake up for him to compel her. Even now, he could see the dark circles around her eyes. She was malnourished, and he found himself afraid for her. If the girl truly was some sort of experiment, and it was likely that she was a successful one, then it was going to take years to get her on her feet. Who knew what the Cullens had done to her? Niklaus's friend, of course, but surely there was a reason he hadn't volunteered more information? Embarrassment? Guilt?

As much as Elijah wanted to trust his brother in selecting the right man for the job, he couldn't. While Elijah was naturally suspicious when it came to his brother's choices, in the end, everything usually turned out just fine. So why did he feel as if something was amiss?

He had met Carlisle Cullen on a couple occasions over the last decades. As a doctor, he'd been respected. Someone people liked to see, because as far as the humans were concerned, everything would be alright if the good doctor was there. The man was charismatic. Most of the time Elijah wished that he would tone it down some; he made Elijah and Klaus in comparison. He'd never been jealous, but Cold Ones always had something up their sleeves. This, however, he had not foreseen while his brother Klaus had.

Elijah supposed it was alright to have a healthy dose of paranoia every once in a while.

He took it upon himself to bring her meals regularly. The first few times the food was untouched because of her sleeping, but when he brought her breakfast a few days later, dinner from the day before had been eaten. The second thing he noticed that Bella was sitting on her knees in the middle of the room, hands in her lap and looking at her hands, almost as if she was meditating. But she was nude.

He composed himself as he placed her breakfast on the table and quietly observed her. While he had experienced a lot of nude women in his time, this was something different. It felt wrong. The girl looked too exposed. She had bruising all over her body. Thankfully, they appeared to be healing. Her pale skin reminded him of the completion of the cold ones, and her hair looked as if it hadn't been given a proper tending to for a very long time. "If you get dressed, I could sit here and keep you company for a while. If you'd like."

She lifted her head ever so slightly before rising to her feet, exposing more of herself to him and he looked away. The moment he did that, he heard her move more quickly to her clothes and dressed. When he turned back to her, she stood with her hands stretched out in front of her, her eyes locked on his, waiting. Anticipating.

"Come, sit," he said kindly, gesturing to the chair nearest to her breakfast. "Have some food." Elijah could have sworn she looked relieved when he didn't move from his spot. Once again, there was a hint of confusion flashing across her face as well, and he wanted to know why. But if she didn't speak, how was she supposed to tell him? "It's okay, come," he gently smiled.

She quietly sat down at the table and looked at her breakfast. In the past few days, they had given her bland but filling meals to make sure that her body would be able to tolerate food. Today, the Cook had made her a small stack of pancakes, drizzled with syrup and dusted with icing sugar. Not missing a beat, she gently pulled a piece of pancake and put it in her mouth.

The look of sheer ecstasy on her face of the taste of the sugary meal broke Elijah's heart. Had she never tasted something like this before? Oh, the joy of eating new things, Bella was in for one hell of a treat. "Now, Bella," he spoke calmly and started to compel her when her eyes met his again. "You have nothing to fear from me, Niklaus or Kol. We're here to help you. Just as Camille and Rebekah. You are safe here. Do you understand?"

Bella nodded quickly before Elijah broke the connection and saw her tuck into her pancakes again. Her shoulders looked less tense than they had been when she'd just sat down, and she was visibly relaxing. "You're of course free to wander around the house. No one will harm you."

There was a knock on the door, causing the girl to stiffen momentarily before she looked back at him. "It's alright," Elijah assured her before looking at the door. "What?"

"I just wanted to check on our little Poppet," the voice filtered through the door. "You haven't driven her mad with boredom yet brother?"

Elijah looked at Bella. "Have I?"

She merely stared at him, not saying a word. Taking her plate, she moved to the other side of the table to put a buffer between him and whoever was at the door as she silently continued to eat.

"Come in, Kol, but leave the door open," Elijah said, watching the girl. "We don't want to make her feel crowded."

He slowly pushed the door open and his eyes swung over the room until they fell on the girl. While he kept a pleasant smile on his lips, his eyes narrowed in their concern. "Hello there Poppet," he greeted quietly, in a voice that he had used to reassure her after he had found her after several incidents on the Cullen land with the wolf boy.

She smiled a little at him and pointed at her pancakes, causing Elijah to blink. That was more response than he had gotten out of her, other than her looking a little stupefied and naked.

"Yes, pancakes. You like them I see," Kol nodded. "We shall be sure to add that to regular breakfast menu for you. Perhaps tomorrow we will see if you enjoy waffles with bananas and cream?"

She cocked her head to the side, questioning him for a moment.

"Trust me," he said, leveling his gaze at her. A promise he had previously made to getting her out though he knew she didn't believe him even with the Cullens brainwashing in her upbringing. "I want you to choose something for me Poppet…"

She nodded and got to her feet, wiping her hands on the clothes. Elijah made a mental note to get the girl her own clothes seeing as Rebekah wouldn't like it much if her clothes get ruined in anyway. He watched the girl round the table and stopped a few steps away from Kol, not making eye contact, but waiting for what was to come with her hands behind her back.

Pulling out a color swatch from his pocket he fanned it out for her to see the assorted color combinations. "I want you to choose one or two. Even three if it suits your fancy. Whichever you like best."

She could choose, she knew that, but what if she chose something they wouldn't like? She shook her head as she took a few steps back.

"Now none of that Poppet. Come back here. Did I not say that I wanted you to choose something? You agreed. Come now," he chastised gently, coaxing her back.

She shook her head and mimed that she was painting before pointing at herself. She could paint, and she could do it well, but if she chose the wrong colors, they would be angry with her. There'd be consequences.

Kol sighed, frustrated, but he understood where her issues were rooted. "Very well. Then I will choose for you, and if you don't like what I select then you will simply have to live with it!"

"Kol," Elijah warned him upon seeing the girl flinch and back away again.

"Bella knows I would not strike her. I have never laid a hand on her. Quite the opposite," he muttered as he stared at her. "I will just consult with Niklaus about my little project then. He is more suited anyhow."

"I know, but who knows what they've done to her? With her trust?"

"I've been with them for the last few months, with Nik's friend. I know what they have been doing and before you ask me… No. I won't tell you," Kol hissed at him.

"You were inside? I thought you had a fit again and went traveling as you usually do," Elijah said surprised. "Are you withholding crucial information that will benefit us from knowing to help her?"

Kol scoffed as he looked at Bella. "He's an idiot. Want him to leave?"

Bella looked between the two, frowning slightly. She refused to answer that question and sighed as she dropped her eyes down to the swatch book in his hand. Turning, she went over to the window and curled up on the slim sill and stared outside.

"I'll definitely have to get some wood to expand that window sill for you, I often saw you from your window, remember?" Kol said, making a mental note before looking at Elijah with curiosity. "Has Nik come in to see her yet?"

"No. Why would he?" he questioned.

"No reason," Kol said with a shrug, making his way over to Bella and squatted down next to her, looking out of the window as well. "How about purple walls, red polka dots, and a yellow ceiling?"

She didn't look at him, but her nostrils flared in her irritation. The thought of such an ugly room only could have been dreamt up by the crazy man.

"I knew you had a spark left inside of you," he grinned and handed her the swatches. "Have a look at them. I'll come back later to see if you've made a decision. I'm going to find a way to ignite that fire inside of you that they wanted to keep buried. Just you watch me, you little mooner."

She narrowed her eyes at him and looked at the swatches before hitting him on the head with them, with a slight smile on her lips.

Elijah didn't know what to think. Why had Kol not told him that he had been around the girl before? Why hadn't Klaus? Were they both deliberately trying to keep him out of the loop? The girl responded well to Kol, and that was quite frustrating. Was that because they had formed a bond while she was still in there? He quietly got up and left the room, he was going to have a chat with his brother.

Elijah found him in his study, painting. All Klaus did for the last few days was paint. There was no other interest, no looking for more Crescent wolves to kill, only to paint. And highly likely to listen in on whatever happened in Bella's room. "Why didn't you tell me you had sent Kol in there as well?"

He did not take his eyes off of the canvas as he scowled. "I hadn't sent him there with the intention you are thinking of. I only wanted him to check on my wolf as I hadn't heard from him in some time. It was his own decision to stay," he responded as he changed brushes. "Contrary to what you may believe, I do not control all my siblings actions. They have minds of their own and are capable of deciding things for themselves."

Elijah blinked at his brother. "And you did not dagger him? Are you ill, Niklaus?"

Klaus froze at the question, canting his head to the side as he indeed considered it a possibility considering how he'd felt over the previous days. "Perhaps I am," he muttered. "I trusted him to get the job done. The Cullens were a threat not only to the humans but to the supernatural world. Kol understood that."

"I'm more worried about what's to come. What will stop the Volturi from moving into that palace? Are you going to hire an arsonist to burn the place down?"

"There is too much publicity surrounding it now. They wouldn't dare," he shrugged. "But I have contacts working on getting information out of Italy. It may take some time. Things are going well with your new project?" he asked, his voice sounding unnaturally bitter in his question.

"It would go well if both my brothers wouldn't be withholding things from me or even do things behind my back to make me look like a bloody idiot," Elijah muttered.

Klaus let out a breath and shook his head as he dumped his paintbrush in a cup of water. "I did not withhold from you. I knew nothing of the relationship between Kol and Bella. Trust me when I say I'm just as curious as you as to its origins. However, I'm not going to go throwing a tantrum because she happens to like him or be responding to his attempts more. It's he she knows! If he knows what will help her, then let him. Even if it is just to put a damn bloody smile on her face. From what I've been hearing, she sounds like she needs a little sunshine in her life."

"Let's discuss how we move things forward over dinner with Cami tonight. If Kol's able to get through to her, maybe he should be the primary person she has to deal with."

Picking up a fresh brush, Niklaus started adding in more yellow to his canvas as he thought about what his brother suggested. "We will ask for Camille's suggestion, but I believe Kol is too close. As much as I hate to say it, I might prefer you to continue as you have. You seemed to have started something of a rapport with her until Kol decided to make his appearance."

"He appears to have taken it upon himself to make the room more pleasant for her, which frightens me. Kol's not known to have good taste. Have you heard his godawful music lately?"

"Don't worry. I'll be supervising his selections. I won't let him ruin the girl's personal space with clashing colors," he smirked as he eyed his painting thoughtfully. "Perhaps I should choose the colors myself and then let him paint when we can get her to leave the room."

"Well, from the looks of it, she wanted to help to paint."

"She's not going to lift a finger," Klaus frowned as he looked over to him. "She served others long enough. It'll be completed quickly enough once we can get her out of the room. I should go to the store for the supplies. Anything you can think of she needs in there?"

"Fitting clothes. She wiped her sugary hands on Rebekah's clothes. If Rebekah had seen her do that, she would have been furious."

"I'll get Camille to handle that. My knowledge of women's clothes is limited to removing them," he remarked.

"I think that's what every man's limitations are when it concerns women's clothing." He was slightly concerned about his brother; he was behaving in a different way. If he didn't know any better, he'd say that his brother seemed to care about this broken girl. Whereas Elijah's primary goal was to get her on her feet and out of their hair as soon as possible. "I shall ask a few of our realtor contacts in other states to be on the lookout for a home suitable for Bella. Maybe the Salvatore brothers would like another project to pour their hearts into."

The brush in Klaus' hand snapped into pieces as he turned to glare at his brother. "Are you that much of an idiot that you would send the girl to those imbeciles? She'll be fine here."

Recognition dawned on his face, causing the older man to smile. "You're not ill, you're infatuated," Elijah said with a smirk. "This is interesting."

"I am not. I haven't even met the girl," he denied, turning his attention to his brushes. A frown came to his face as he realized that most had already been damaged or well beyond their use, forcing him to have to go purchase more.

"Why haven't you?"

Blinking, he wasn't sure how to answer. "I do not know," he admitted. "I haven't gone near her since the first night Kol brought her… I - I can't get her scent out of my head!"

"Are you afraid you will hurt her, brother?"

"No," Klaus scoffed. "If anything, that's the last thing I'm interested in…"

"Then go and meet her," Elijah said encouragingly.

"This isn't me Elijah."

"Meet her, and get it out of your system."

"Nope. That is something that is out of the question. Especially in her emotional state. I could compel her to forget everything, but it would make me no better than those Cold Ones for taking advantage of her in the way that I may want. I'm going out. I need new brushes, thanks to you," he grumbled.

"Don't forget to ask Camille to help you with some comfortable clothes for Bella," Elijah reminded him with a smile and quickly headed out of the study before his brother would snap something other than paint brushes.

~o.O.o~

"So, how's she doing?" Cami asked when she started to plate up her food. "She's been with you guys for a few days now, any signs of improvement?"

Elijah wisely kept his mouth shut about having seen Bella naked. "She seems to enjoy pancakes," he said evenly as he took a sip of his wine.

"She has a liking to Kol as well. It appears he had befriended her while he spent time within the Cullens' coven. He had neglected to inform the family that he decided to join my wolf in infiltrating the dancing disco balls," Klaus murmured.

"Really?" Rebekah said, eyes wide in surprise.

"What? I didn't think it was that important," Kol said sheepishly as he tucked into his food. "I saw her a couple of times, thought she looked miserable, and you know me, I hate unhappy girls. So I tried to make her laugh."

"Do you know what they have done to her?" Nik questioned as he eyed him, sipping on his glass of blood.

"I observed some happenings, yes," Kol reluctantly replied. "She was constantly told what to do, and there was no room for error or refusal. At one point, the fairy prince started to beat her to a pulp in front of everyone present because she hadn't eaten in days and fainted while bringing him something. It was then when I lost my cool and hit him in the face. Earned me a stake through the heart. I kept quiet then," he smirked. "You should have seen their faces when I popped up again on the night of the evacuation."

Knowing his family as well as he did, Klaus saw there was more between the lines. More than he was saying. "So we have an idea of where to continue in working with her. I bought paints for her room, and I have several canvases completed for the walls. Once we can get her out, we will fix it up. I also got some other accessories to match the scheme that I hope are to her liking, but I digress."

Cami looked at Kol, silently questioning the man. "She didn't look that beaten up when I saw her the following day."

"I had to give her some of my blood when I caught her with Nik's friend. Not enough to fully heal her, but enough to at least kickstart her healing," Kol shrugged. "She knows what I am, I think. But she's not afraid. She knows I'm not like them."

"Well that's bloody well and good for her, especially if she is going to be around this family until she is well enough to leave," Rebekah stated.

"Oh, but she won't be leaving, sister," Kol said, a playful smile appearing on his face. "I'm not the only one keeping secrets."

She looked at him confused, before turning to her other brothers. Elijah having an expression of mixed concern and amusement while Klaus was glaring at Kol. "Oh no, we're not going to take in a broken human. We are not the Salvatores for heaven's sake!"

"Stop bringing up those idiots!" Klaus growled as he threw his fork down on his plate, frustrated.

"It is a bit more complicated than you may think Rebekah," Elijah said slowly as he eyed his brother. "Though I do not know if it is necessarily a bad thing."

"Oh, please don't tell me that the mutt side has to do something with it!"

"Hey! Play nice," Cami said, scolding Rebekah. "Focus. We were talking about Bella."

"Bloody hell," Klaus muttered. "I don't know what this is. I haven't even laid eyes on the girl! Since I crossed her scent, I've been a damn prisoner in this house, unable to leave the vicinity for very long. I was barely able to go shopping for her room without being able to focus that the trip was for her. Do you think I'm pleased about this turn of events?"

"Interesting," Cami said, looking over at Klaus before looking at Elijah. "I hear the mayor has copies of documents found in the raid. Do you think you could get me those? And whatever research Dr. Cullen may have done? Maybe we can find something there, and if not, we can dig into mythology books or whatever."

Curious, Rebekah eyed her as he sat back in her chair. "Why?"

"Don't you want to help your brother, Rebekah?" Cami looked at her. "He's obviously frustrated about the situation. This can't be good for any of you."

She looked over at her brother, who had turned back to eating and ignoring the conversation. Her eyes narrowed as she recalled what she saw of him since their new charge arrived, and she couldn't say that he was entirely unhappy either. "I don't know… Maybe it really is a blessing in disguise."

"In any case," Cami said as she looked at Elijah and Kol. "I want more information on the girl to work with. Get me those documents."

"Then by all means, research," Klaus said as he looked up at her. "But note, the girl stays here. I may be unable to leave without being miserable, but when am I not?"

"Has she been checked out, medically?"

"Do you want to inflict yet another unknown thing on her?" Kol rolled his eyes at Camille. "She's okay. She's malnourished, but we're fixing that. She's getting stronger; she's doing well."

"Elijah's been bringing her meals," Klaus added.

"I, too, don't think it's a wise idea to bring another doctor in to examine her. If she had any internal damage, the little bit of blood that she drank of Kol would have fixed it. She doesn't seem to be in physical discomfort."

Niklaus frowned at his implications of what occurred prior to her coming to their family, his eyes darting over to Kol to try to catch any form of reaction for information. The more he heard about what she endured, it became harder for him to control his emotions.

"Carlisle was a doctor. I heard some rumors that make me vote against any kind of needles or medical equipment," Kol responded. "We'll get you those documents."

"If she likes food so much, try to coax her out of her room with it. Serve it in the courtyard or something. See what she does. Don't force her; just let it happen," Cami suddenly said and polished off her plate. "I'll come by one of these days to see if she wants to talk about things with me, but…"

"Not until you've discovered nothing in the documents, got it." Kol winked at her.


	3. One Step Forward

_Local police said to have been baffled when they saw the human-shaped holes in the walls of their holding cells that held the majority of the Cullen family, but realized they escaped. They're currently trying to find out how and when, and there are warrants out for their arrests. However, they are nowhere to be found, almost as if they vanished into thin air._

 _We're of course talking about the disbanding of a local New Orleans cult lead by Dr. Carlisle Cullen and his son Edward. According to former members of the community, they pretended to be Royalty and were spoken to as "my lord". This has been the biggest raid in quite some time, and former members seem to be doing well, all things considering._

 _Police are still looking for the young woman shown coming out of the gates with Jacob Black during the raid. She wasn't among the members that were rounded up by the police._

Klaus let out a growl and threw his glass against the television. Things would blow over. Hopefully sooner, rather than later. If he ever were to take her into New Orleans, would she be recognized?

~o.O.o~

For days, Elijah brought her food and tried to get her to come out of her room, but she simply refused. He was not one to lose his patience easily, but the girl was surely testing it. Fighting against the urge to compel her, he gave up. At least for one day. Or maybe two. Have someone else bring her food and try to talk to her.

Every time Elijah wanted to talk to her, she looked at the door, questionably, almost willing Kol to come by. This was frustrating as well. He sat down at the breakfast table with a scowl on his face and reached for his glass of blood.

"Another failed attempt, brother?" Klaus smiled at him as he bit into his roll. "Perhaps you are simply not man enough for her. Or just too boring for her to respond to."

"That girl is impossible. It is almost as if she believes the entire world is in her room. At least she remembers to get dressed before usual meal times now."

"A bit of an exhibitionist is she?"

"Right up your street. Or Kol's. Whoever wants her first."

Klaus' humor was wiped from his face as he glared at him. "He wouldn't dare touch her. Not if he wishes to remain free because I won't hesitate to put him back in his box."

Elijah smirked as he leaned back in his chair and looked at Klaus. "What if… hypothetically, she finds her own voice and thinks that you are not worthy and prefers our brother? Or what if she's not interested either of you at all?"

"I will cross that bridge if that time comes," he replied as he looked away uneasily. "Whatever this girl is doing to me, Elijah… I don't care for it but at the same time… It feels just as natural as it is unnatural. Camille hasn't contacted you with any more information on her research?"

"I'm afraid not, Niklaus. At least nothing that pertains to your unfortunate situation. However, Kol did some careful breaking and entering and found something hidden in Carlisle's bedchambers. He is getting it to her as we speak."

"This secrecy that he has is starting to get annoying. I understand he wants to protect her but doesn't he realize that I only wish for the same considering whatever link I seem to share with her?"

"I am sure he has his reasons, brother. Whatever it is, we need to figure this out ourselves. For the two weeks that she has been here, I'm grateful that we've shown her that we don't mean her any harm. Noise is being kept to a minimum, but until she decides to share, the only thing we can do is try to make her as comfortable and confident as possible. Teach her she has a voice now."

"I know," Klaus grumbled as he bit down on his roll again.

"Maybe stage a mock fight with Rebekah putting one of us in place will show Bella that women have a voice."

"Oh, I'm sure Rebekah would love that."

"Good morning, brothers," Kol greeted them as he sauntered into the room, carrying a few bags. "I dropped the journal off at Cami's, and now I'm going to get our girl out of her room. Maybe seduce her to having breakfast in the sunshine."

Klaus glowered at his younger brother as he was unable to suppress his jealousy.

"Down boy," Kol smirked and looked in his bag. "Shame I don't have a paper to beat you on your nose with. No worries, I'm not interested in her as you are, she's my friend."

"I do have a dagger reserved for you, whatever the case may be."

"As I said, friend. Not potentially something else," he huffed as he grabbed a dinner roll. "Elijah would you be so kind as to set up her breakfast on the table outside? I'll have her out in a jiffy."

"I've been trying to do that for days."

"As I said, I'll have her out in a jiffy."

Klaus sat back as he looked at his brother. "Why not? We can move the entire table outdoors for the event should he succeed. Let him try."

"Oh no, not the entire table, Nik," Kol said with a smile. "Tomorrow, maybe. Let's just get her outside first."

Standing from his seat, he decided he had enough. "Fine. Do what you want," he said as he threw his napkin over his plate. Walking out of the room, he announced, "I'll be in my study for the rest of the day."

"Something I said?" Kol looked over to his other brother after Klaus had left. "I thought we were going to do baby steps?"

"I believe his patience is too, wearing thin," Elijah mused. "He still hasn't approached her room."

"Yeah well, that's his choice," Kol popped a grape in his mouth and ran upstairs to Bella's room. He quietly knocked and opened the door. "Greetings! It's a lovely day outside, would you like to come?"

She narrowed her eyes on him as she sat in her window sill, her back now turned towards the outside world. Bella shook her head as she grabbed her hands and squeezed them tightly. Even the thought of going outside her room terrified her.

"Oh, come on, Poppet," he said teasingly as he set foot in her room. "I'll make it worth your while."

Cocking her head, she observed him. Only noticing now that he was holding up a bag with something in it, obviously, and even though she knew she could trust him, she could feel her heartbeat speed up. She watched him get something out of it and caught it when he threw it at her.

"Eat it, I dare you."

Looking at the tiny object, she tugged at the paper to reveal what was inside and put it in her mouth, her eyes widening when the taste hit her tongue. She ate the sweet and smiled widely, mouthing a 'thank you'.

"Would you like to have some more?" When she nodded, he placed a candy on the floor. "Follow the sweets! I'm making sure that there's nothing in your way that can hurt you, and when you reach the end, I have something special for you. Something you will like."

She violently started to shake her head. There was no way she was going to leave this room, this safe room, where nothing could hurt her, and nothing has hurt her so far. But on the other hand, she didn't want to disappoint Kol. Despite him not being one of the hierarchy, she still felt the need to please him because he could hurt her, despite her seemingly being able to trust him. What was trust?

She was raised in a loving family, she trusted them. She did everything in her power to please them and now that she wasn't with them anymore, she felt lost. Sure, Kol was a welcome surprise, but she wasn't sure if she was happy with how he and Elijah wanted to change her. Even Rebekah and Cami said that her behavior was faulty, not normal. She wanted to see Edward. Did Kol have Edward as a surprise for her?

Edward would make things go right again. Edward would also be very disappointed if she didn't do as Kol wanted her to; which was follow the tasty trail of whatever it was and follow him out. As she followed the trail and ate them as she went along, she kept repeating Edward's name in her head. She was going to see him again; everything was going to be okay, and it was all a misunderstanding. Surely, Edward would reward this family for taking care of her?

She hesitated when the trail led down the stairs, but managed to take the steps down and to collect the goodies in her pockets. She had eaten far too much of it; it couldn't be good. She'd share them with Edward later, although she wasn't sure he'd like it. He never ate, so she never ate. Well, barely ate. Never the sweet things, always a slice of bread or some potatoes with something green, but never the sweet things. It would be sad to give that up again, but she'd have Edward back.

The trail had stopped right in front of Kol, who was sitting in a chair, basking in the sunlight. He didn't sparkle like Edward did. Kol wasn't royal material. Edward was. She looked at Kol as she tried to hide some things in her pockets by pulling her shirt over them.

"Is there still room for breakfast?" Kol asked her, proud of what she had achieved. She was outside, in the sun and hopefully going to sit still long enough for her to enjoy it. The heat on her skin, how the sun would caress her and warm her up.

Bella looked around the courtyard, a little like a deer caught in headlights as she shuddered. Where was Edward? She looked at Kol, who pointed to her breakfast; pancakes with bacon and syrup and a glass of oranges and hid her disappointment. Maybe Edward would come later. She sat down on her knees at the table and picked on her bacon.

"Too many sweets, huh?"

She looked at Kol, realizing she had the sweets still in her pocket and frantically pulled them all out and put them on the table with a look filled with guilt on her face. Yeah, she shouldn't have hidden them from Kol. She put her hands on the table, palms up and waited.

"No, don't do that, poppet," he sighed as he put the sweets back into her hand and closed her fingers around them. "They're yours."

She dropped the sweets again and put her palms up again, staring at him, waiting for punishment.

"Not going to happen, I'm not like them, you know that."

'Edward,' she mouthed as she withdrew her hands, leaving the sweets on the table.

"Not coming. Don't you remember the last night there? All the strange people searching the property? The family ran, leaving everyone. I brought you to mine so that we can protect you," he explained gently.

'He'll find this one,' she said with half a shrug and picked on her bacon again. Yes, he'd find her and take her home with him. All would be well. Not that she didn't appreciate this family's kindness, she felt off. She was getting frustrated herself without being able to do her daily chores, without having someone to touch her.

Kol smiled and shrugged. "He'll have to get past my family first. And certainly past my one brother and I doubt he would survive his wrath considering the way he's been lately with anyone that makes the slightest negative remark in your direction."

She frowned at that. Why would this family want to kill Edward? She pushed her plate away from her and cocked her head. 'Edward's good,' she mouthed. 'this one's bad.'

"No Doll, he isn't. Just give it time and you will see," he smiled sadly. "Trust when I say that all my brother wants is you to be happy. This is new behavior for him, and we like this change. Keep that in mind whenever you experience something new. Okay?"

'Edward sold this one?' She blinked at Kol. Was she going to be someone else's now? Just like that? She had heard of this happening before, but she thought that it wouldn't ever happen to her. She was fine with it if this was the case because that was how it worked. He always told her she was a good girl, and good girls are worth every penny.

Kol frowned and grimaced. "No. Let me put into context that you would understand it best right now. This isn't what is fact but from what you lived, it's the best comparison I can make for now. You can say that we - stole you? Though rescue is more accurate, and I hope, you come to realize the difference quickly. The life you lived with the Cullens wasn't normal. Not even in the supernatural world. That was why I was there to see what I could do to help people like you."

She was stolen. Edward was going to come and get her back, with Emmett by his side and the Royal Guard. She slowly nodded and got to her feet before turning around and making her way back to her room. She was going to stay there, and she was going to wait for rescue. She needed to be available for Edward, and she hadn't been since she arrived here. She needed to loosen herself up again.

Bella was sure she had made a wrong turn somewhere as she retraced her steps because the room she was standing in front of, wasn't hers. It looked like a mini version of Esme's chambers, not exactly, but it had color, paintings, and beautiful furniture. Blinking, she dared herself to walk down the hall to find her room. She walked up and down the hall for a long time, and maybe she was lost. This was a big building, even bigger than the one she had lived in all of her life; it would be easy to get lost. Someone would come and find her, for sure.

Finding a corner, she sat down on her knees, resting her ass on her feet and folded her hands in her lap. She was going to wait.

Klaus was happy that Kol had, indeed, gotten Bella out of her room so that he could fix her room up for her. He had watched them from her window, and his heart shattered into a million pieces when he picked up on the conversation. He could understand that she was hopeful for her life to return to normal, but as Kol said, it had been anything but. It was a shame that in his wealth of knowledge that he had gathered over the last thousand years, that he hadn't come across something like this before. Not just his unusual feelings, but the entire situation surrounding her.

There was one thing Kol had been right about. Should any of the Cold Ones walk over the threshold of the compound, Klaus was going to kill them. However, the movement down the hallway unnerved him. He could hear her shuffle as if she was looking for something, and he was worried. Was he going to risk it?

It was a terrible thing that the girl was as quiet as a church mouse. He didn't know what to about that. Perhaps string a bell around her neck. When he quietly made his way down the stairs to see what was going on, he found her sitting in a corner with a blank expression on her face.

She was beautiful. While she could use some more sunlight on her face, however her brown hair complimented her complexion perfectly. Her brown eyes were exquisite, she'd be a perfect model for one of his paintings. Bella took his breath away, and that was problematic.

Would he dare her to escort her back to her room? Maybe she thought that she was on the wrong floor now that her room had changed. Even though she didn't seem to be upset about what Kol had told her, he could see that she was; her body language looked tense. Far too tense to be pleasant for her.

He waited for a couple more minutes to see if Elijah or Kol himself would go and check up on her, but when they didn't, he made his way further down the stairs, cleared his throat so she wouldn't be startled and sat down next to her. Her scent enveloped him like a warm blanket, calming his nerves but also igniting them at the same time. His hands felt clammy, and that was a new experience for him as well. "I'm Klaus," he said, his voice betraying him and making him sound as if he was choking on his breath.

Bella looked at him and acknowledged him with a nod. She hadn't seen him before, but he must be the other family member. The secret one. The leader. Did she belong to him now?

"Would you come with me, please? I would like to show you something," he said, getting back to his feet and holding out a hand for her to take so he could pull her up.

Of course, Bella thought. Anything to please him. She knew that she should be scared because he wasn't Edward. But she felt at ease with him, an ease that she had never felt before. She took his hand and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet, surprised by the fact that he would be able to pull her up. Edward always made comments that she was too heavy.

He gently placed his hand on the small of her back to guide her and walked her to her room. "While you were out with my brother, I went ahead and did this for you. I hope you like your new room. If you want anything changed, do not hesitate to ask." He gently gave her a push into the room and took a few steps back, watching her reaction to it all. Klaus was going to leave the moment she set foot in the room, he promised himself. He didn't want to overwhelm her. And if he had to be honest, taking her hand had been something magical, a tiny spark that set something off in his veins, and he had to keep his distance. He had to. Or he might end up doing something against her will. "I thought to surprise you with making this room for you. You deserve more than a sparsely dressed room. I hope you like the paintings, I made them especially for you."

Bella had seen the room before. Was it truly hers? She looked over her shoulder to Klaus, and he nodded. She smiled at him. 'Thank you.'

"Go on inside, love," he smiled encouragingly. Her hesitation was frustrating, he needed to be in his study, as far away as possible. "Tell me what you think about it tomorrow, over breakfast?"

She nodded and took a step into the room. When she looked over her shoulder again, he had disappeared. Maybe she wasn't what he had hoped for. Hadn't she been her best? She took another step into the room and closed the door quietly before observing every detail in the room again. It was fit for a queen. The paintings were beautiful. Brightly colored and in every single one of them there was sunshine. A theme. Horses were breaking free. A shadow was escaping prison, but not darkly painted, but bright.

The furniture had changed too; it looked expensive, and she was already afraid that she'd make a scratch on it. There were pillows on the floor, she wasn't quite sure why, but her knees were going to be grateful for them. She cursed herself for being happy about a luxury as pillows. She'd just have to shove them out of her way when having a meal unless they insisted on her using them.

Her bed was big enough for at least four people her size. Or five. Was her new leader going to bed her here? He wasn't a Cold One, so did she have to be in bed all day to make sure the bed was warm for him? She could do that. Stripping out of her clothes, she carefully tugged on the bedding to create a little bit of space for her and got in bed. A content sigh escaped her lips, and she was glad that no one was around to have noticed, but the bed was amazing. Not rock hard, but fluffy, bouncy and so good.

Yawning, she wiggled her toes a little for more space and dozed off in an instant.


	4. Two Steps Back

**A/N: HAPPY LABOR DAY EVERYONE!**

* * *

Bella slept all day and most of the night. When she awoke, she was surprised to find the other side of the bed unslept in. She then realized her mistake; her new King had probably been observing her since the day she'd been taken. She still thought that being sold didn't sound as bad or implausible - and he had seen that she hadn't been making herself available, ready, for him.

She nearly tripped over her own feet in her haste to get to the bathroom to prepare. Rebekah had kindly donated a bag of toiletries with everything a woman needed and a handful of implements she didn't know what they were for. Bella had been saving the blade - there was no doubt that it was blunt, for this occasion. She needed to be able to properly thank Klaus for everything. He was powerful; and so far he was good and kind. Kol spoke highly of him, as did Elijah, but not as flattering as Kol had done.

Bella opened the faucet of the shower, turning it to hot, and waited for it to be ready. It was the proper way of taking a shower. Hot to open the pores. Medium to shave, wash and rinse. Then cold for a good five minutes to finish. Bella always completed ten minutes, because she was a good girl. She grabbed the showerhead and started to spray the hot water all over her body, in every roll of fat on her body, underneath her breasts and inside her 'hole'. Her anticipation had caused her body to turn sensitive so when she sprayed herself, she accidentally let out a vocal yelp.

Disgusted and angry with herself that she dared to make a sound, Bella opened the faucet even further, and hotter water came out of the showerhead. She had to pay for what she'd done. She would be very lucky if nobody heard her. She took a few big gulps of water, careful in not allowing it to sit on her tongue for too long and felt how the water burnt her throat. Good, she thought as she turned the water to mild. Despite her error, she still needed to get ready. She hooked the showerhead in place and started to take care of her hair. Once that was properly washed, she grabbed the bottle of shampoo again and put suds all over her legs and started shaving.

She had not expected the blade to be anything other than blunt and for a moment, she stared at her leg as the plasma mixed itself with the soap, only to snap her head up when she heard someone come in and then that same person letting out a gasp.

"Your leg!" Rebekah cried out as she pulled Bella from underneath the lukewarm shower and sat her down on the toilet to assess the damage. Cursing underneath her breath, Rebekah looked up to Bella, who had her eyes closed and bit her own finger to apply her blood directly to Bella's wound. When it started to heal, she let out a relieved sigh. "There, all better," she said as she helped Bella back underneath the shower. "It was just a tiny cut. Those blades are sharp. Please be careful when you use them, okay?"

A stunned Bella was nodding. Rebekah just smiled at her. "I think it's progress that you're finally using the contents of that bag. Good job. Keep it up." Bella nodded again, and Rebekah excused herself from the bathroom so Bella could continue her routine. However, now that the cycle had been broken and that she had been touched before completion, she had to start all over again.

She had let herself go in the last two weeks. Sure, she had showered, but not as thorough as she had before. She had been in 'vacation mode' and had not taken any proper steps. She knew she should punish herself for that, but as her throat was still burning and she determined breakfast was going to be her punishment. She untangled her hair before drying it and doing it all over again. Satisfied by her cleanliness all over her body, she got into her clothes. She was supposed to make the rest of her body presentable for him as well, but she deserved more punishment, and some liked it when her hole was tight.

She had to admit, it was a little strange to wear clothes that fit her and were super comfortable. She almost looked like a normal person, on even ground with everyone else. It wasn't even fair that other people were bringing her food, and she had let that happen. Now that Kol had shown her that there was nothing wrong or scary about the building, maybe she had to go and explore some. If this was to be her new home, she'd better know every corner, every room.

The Cullens never slept, but she couldn't hear anything, so maybe these vampires did sleep. She was well aware that Kol was one, and it was likely that Rebekah was one as well. Different from her king - her former king - and his family. The biggest revelation had come when Kol introduced himself to her all these months ago; his touch has been warm.

She quietly opened the door and checked to see if she was truly the only one awake and stepped outside her room. She'd been afraid that alarms would have gone off, but nothing happened. To avoid waking anyone, she decided to explore downstairs first, because she knew the way down and knew what to expect.

She walked around the stairs when she came down to the bottom and listened on top of the stairs to the lower level. It was likely that the kitchen was there, and she could hear people laugh. It was best not to go there, she decided. What if someone would spot her? Wouldn't be too bad but she didn't know who might be around. What if she wasn't supposed to be down there? She walked out toward the courtyard and breathed in the night air. It was close to sunrise; she could tell. When she looked up, she was surprised to see the moon shining down on her.

Smiling, she continued down one of the corridors. Bella didn't bother with closed doors, but when there was an open door, she peeked inside. She tried to figure out how many people were in the building, how many workers there were and maybe more of the royalty. Or whatever the higher hierarchy might be calling themselves. There was certainly room for more. Did they just start or didn't they need a lot of people to exist.

When the sun started to rise, she went back to her room. Elijah would come soon to bring her breakfast. It had been early for the last two weeks. What would have changed now? She'd ask him to show her the kitchens so she could make her own breakfast. If she was here permanently, she had to do everything herself. She wasn't physically challenged or otherwise incapacitated and the more she did on her own, the more she could regulate things to be the best she could be.

Yes, she was her best if people would let her be.

She was on the stairs when the building shook, followed by some yelling and laughter coming up the stairs from the basement and she didn't know how fast she had to get to her room. If they were part of the guard, she likely wasn't off limits but her body was _his_ to use first. Not that she would able to stop anyone from trying. It was what she was there for. But not before he had her first - unless his instructions would be something else.

She closed the door and sat down on the bed, trying to calm herself down from the excitement and waiting for Elijah to come. Her throat wasn't hurting as much, maybe Elijah would bring her some tea, that would work too.

It wasn't for several more hours that Rebekah came to the room, gently knocking before entering with a big smile on her face. "Good morning!" she greeted Bella, who simply stared back before smiling a little. "Let's have breakfast. You, me, Elijah, Kol… Would you like that? To see us all together?"

Bella shrugged. She didn't particularly liked to eat with other people, but she was famished after her rigorous cleaning routine and her skulking around. 'Sorry for this morning,' she mouthed to the vampire, who shrugged it off.

"I should have said it was a sharp one. Are you ready? You look great, Bella. I like your hair."

Bella smiled shyly at Rebekah before following her out. Wasn't she supposed to have breakfast with Klaus? Didn't he say something like that yesterday? Maybe he had second thoughts; he hadn't joined her in bed either. Was she supposed to have gone to his bed? That would be a good idea too. She pinched herself, hard, for thinking that even if she has her own room, it didn't mean that she had to be in there for most of the time. She had to be in his. She'd been stupid.

Too scared to function, but that was going to change.

"Now, the table is too high for you to sit on your knees so you're going to sit on a chair, just like the rest of us," Rebekah said as they walked down the stairs. "And whatever happens, just stay seated, no harm will come to you."

Bella felt slightly curious now. Where was Rebekah taking her? It appeared to be the room with the large table that she had seen that night; a dining room fit for a king and it was all dressed up for breakfast, smelling delicious. Her stomach betrayed her by letting out a noise. Another noise? She was slipping. She was going to drink hot tea and leave the good smelling food to be where it was. But surely, they wouldn't have dinner there? Wouldn't it in the kitchens?

"No, through here," Rebekah said kindly as she gently nudged Bella's back to get her to walk into the room. "We reserved you a seat right here," she said, pointing at the chair at the end of the table. "That way you can see everything and it's closest to the door should you want to hide, but please, don't."

Bella nodded. She wasn't going to run; she wasn't afraid, and she was going to have breakfast with Rebekah, Kol, and Elijah. No big deal. It was in a fancy room, but it was no big deal. She was allowed to be here because Rebekah took her. If she was going to be sent away, it was Rebekah's fault. Not hers. But she still thought this was a bad idea.

She sat down on the chair and pulled her legs underneath her to get more comfortable, she didn't like chairs much, not being used to using them.

"Oh, brilliant," Kol's voice sounded before she could see him. "Good morning, sister and good morning to you, Bella. Did you have a fun time skulking around the building this morning?"

Bella felt how the color drained from her face as she looked at him as if she was a deer caught in headlights.

"Don't worry about it, I assume Elijah told you that you are allowed to walk through the building, and we encourage it," he smiled at her and sat down next to her. "You look great, Bella. Those clothes look good on you. Much better than the clothes my sister had donated so generously."

Rebekah huffed as she sat down opposite of her brother. "I have good taste, but Bella's just so fragile, she could use a bit more meat on her bones! Those wretched Cullens kept her so unhealthy. She's blossoming already."

Bella blinked at what Rebekah was saying. Was she disrespecting her family? She narrowed her eyes on Rebekah and crossed her arms over her chest.

"See. She even has some attitude to her. I like her," Rebekah smiled and winked.

'They were good to this one,' Bella mouthed. 'Family. And you stole this one. They will come for this one.'

"And we will fight to keep you in ours. You'll be stronger here, independent on your own, if I have anything to say about it. We girls have to stick together."

'This one is that. She'll make her own food, She promises. This one can make you clothes.'

"Nonsense. You are part of our family now. We want you to share meals with us. Though I do wish, you would learn to use your voice. Us Mikaelsons are anything but meek and quiet. You are strong inside. You will fit in, in time."

Bella was quiet for a moment as she thought about the words Rebekah had spoken. The family. Kol and Rebekah were part of the same family as Elijah. And they called each other brothers and sisters. Of course. She managed to grab hold of a piece of her skin and twisted it, not flinching at the impact. She was so stupid. So stupid. How could she be a good girl when she was stupid? They were all a family.

They had their hierarchy, and she had thought that Kol was like her, and that wasn't the case. She treated him with so much disrespect! She pinched herself again. Now she had to drink two hot teas to burn her throat; previous punishments were still standing and not absolved.

Kol didn't like the silence. Granted, Bella was silent, but her face had gone from animated to stone cold, silent. Even though she had seemed like a mindless drone sometimes back with the Cullens, he had learned to distinguish her facial expressions quite well. And this one was the one she put up whenever she had to deal with a beating or being forced to hurt herself while Edward watched.

Kol peered over the table and saw that she was twisting the little bit of skin on her leg. "Don't," he said kindly, putting his hand over hers. "Whatever you did, I'm sure it's no big deal."

She quickly withdrew her hands and folded them in her lap and looked at them. She was in so much trouble now.

"I liked hearing you yelp in the shower. What did you do this morning?" Kol smiled at her. "It was such a cute yelp."

'The water was hotter than expected. This one's sorry.'

"No reason to apologize," he said as he raised an eyebrow at her. "You want to yell and scream. By all means. Won't be anything new around here."

'This one's not allowed to make noise,' she said, still looking at her hands. 'She won't make noise, even if you tell her she can because this one can't.'

Rebekah huffed as she shook her head. "Well, that isn't so here. I will figure out a way to get you to actually talk to us. I'm sure you have a lovely voice. Keeping silent is dandy but voicing yourself will make you stronger. Don't let these boys railroad you into something you don't want to do. Especially this troublemaker."

Kol kept her eyes on her as Elijah walked in. She was currently distracted by Rebekah, but not for long. 'This one doesn't want anything,' Bella mouthed.

Kol sighed, "You should."

"Good morning," Elijah said brightly. "How nice of you to join us, Bella," he said as he sat down next to his brother. "You look stunning."

Her body tensed and there it was again, a tiny hitch in her breath. Kol could see that she was forcing herself to stay. After all, that's what Rebekah had told her to do but he was afraid that she'd hurt herself again.

"Niklaus will be with us shortly. He is waiting for Camille to arrive," Elijah informed them.

At the mention of Klaus and Cami, Bella went rigid. She sat up straighter and her hands moved back to her thighs, ready to grab a piece of skin and pinch it. Kol put his hand over hers again and gently squeezed it, causing her eyes to flash up to meet his. "You're okay," he told her. "You're safe."

"Camille just wants to have some breakfast and see how you're doing," Elijah replied. "She's a friend of the family, and she's just as concerned about you as we are."

She should be on the floor. If she was going to eat with the ones on top of the chain, she had to be on the floor. She shouldn't be on even standing with them. Sure, she could see that the table was a bit higher off the floor than others, but she wouldn't mind to settle for scraps. Or no food at all. Bella wiggled in her seat as she tried to unfold her legs from underneath her, ready to slide down the chair and onto the floor.

"Bella," Kol murmured, shaking his head slightly. "You will share breakfast with us. At the table. Seated."

Her breath caught in her chest as she gripped the arms of the chair tightly before relaxing somewhat. Kol had given her an order; it sounded the same as Rebekah's. She was going to have breakfast, sitting on a chair with the Royals. She wasn't sure she could do it, but she had to. She'd be on her best behavior, and that had to start now. It would start with not freaking out about what she's been taught all her life, but adjust to the way her new leaders wanted her to be. She didn't have to feel comfortable; she had to do what she was told.

"I can't imagine what it's like to be raised to be so passive and afraid of everything. And not being included!" Rebekah said as she poured Bella some tea. "You're not less than us, Bella."

That had Bella lunging for the tea, and she gulped it down in a fluid movement. She could feel it burn her throat, just like she wanted it to. Just like she had wanted the hot water to do for her, but it had worn off. She carefully placed the cup back down and looked at the three at the table. Were they shocked? Why?

"Oh my god, Bella!" Camille ran into the room and started to check her over. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

Bella just blankly blinked at her and when Cami didn't let go of her chin, she shook her head. Why would she care? It was her punishment; Cami didn't have anything to do with it.

"You will not do that to yourself again," Rebekah said angrily, slicing open her hand with a knife and wanted to drop some blood in a cup for the girl to drink, but Klaus caught her hand and shook his head.

As much as he wanted Rebekah's blood to repair the damage the tea must have caused, it had been either a compulsion or Bella's own decision to down it as she had. It broke his heart, truly it did. He hurt for her, even when she didn't show she was hurt.

Moving to kneel beside her chair, his eyes flickered over her form as he tried to detect any sense of injury on her. "Why did you drink that when it was still too hot?" He questioned gently.

'This one was bad, many times over the course of the morning and the past weeks,' she mouthed, looking down to her hands again, shivering under Klaus' gaze. His eyes were warm, not cold, and it confused her.

He pursed his lips and tilted his head slightly. "And why would you say you were bad?" He asked curiously.

She took a deep breath and shook her head. She didn't want to tell him, afraid that he'd be mad at her, but on the other hand, he didn't appear to be angered, and he seemed to radiate warmth and acceptance. 'This one wasn't prepared for you for the length this one has been here. This one accidentally vocalized her pain at the hot shower this morning. This one's stomach makes noise,' she said, taking another deep breath before startling when Kol angrily shoved his chair out of the way and stormed out of the room. 'This one angered Kol.'

Was it all bad, though, she wondered? They were acting as if all the things she had been taught, grown up with, was wrong. That things could be easier, but she didn't dare to give in to her curiosity to try, because if that worked; it meant her whole life had been a lie.

'I- this one should be punished?' she cocked her head as she looked at Klaus, confusion written all over her face.

"If you desire a punishment for whatever reason, go to Elijah. I am sure he will take pleasure in lecturing you to death," he smiled.

'This one thinks you've made a mistake by stealing her. It doesn't fit. I- feel bad.' She winced when she could hear Kol smash something. 'He should respect property, take it out on this one.'

"We don't care for material things, Bella," Klaus spoke kindly and gently squeezed her arm. "And change is hard, and I imagine it's harder on you than we can ever imagine, but please, do not harm yourself when you think you've made a mistake. Let us enjoy breakfast. Kol informed me you liked the sugary breakfasts. Have you had a beignet before? It is usually a dessert, but they are very good for breakfasts as well." He reached for the plate with the pastries and set them down on top of Bella's empty plate.

Klaus got up and went to sit down in his chair when Kol breezed back in and sat down in his. He was still angry, but Klaus was certain that once breakfast was over, and Bella out of earshot, that he would tell him what was going on. Cami looked deep in thought as she was quietly buttering her toast. He liked taking his time with his victims to break them down and pull them apart but he found himself fascinated with discovering new, fragmented sides of Bella and an attempt to try and glue her back together. And with each new thing they learned, his desire for hunting this other faction of vampires down grew. They could not have disappeared like that, not in thin air, and he was going to rip them apart, limb from limb and use their appendages for kindle.

Of course, the girl wasn't eating, but Klaus felt grateful that she at least drank the glass of orange juice that Kol set down in front of her. All Klaus wanted, was to compel her and erase all the years of bad instruction; because that's what it was. They didn't raise her, they instructed her. Cami had told him so; she had found snippets of her 'behavioral therapy' in the journal Kol had nicked a few days earlier. She had more to say, but then she ran into the room to make sure Bella was alright after drinking the hot tea without flinching.

He was going to make sure Bella would receive those pastries after breakfast. They were simply a delight and too good to pass up on, but for now, he enjoyed having her at his table. It made the food taste better, and she brightened up the room.

The thought stopped him cold as he held his glass to his lips. He sure as hell hoped that Cami found a reason for him to be so infatuated with her. This was getting ridiculous.


	5. Let The Words Fall Out

"The Cullens didn't like children," Cami said as they all sat in Klaus' study. "In fact, all the human women in his cult were made barren so that there wouldn't be any accidents. From an early age, Bella was taught not to make any noise as not to disturb the rest of the family. They had a rocky start. Babies simply don't understand, but eventually they had found a way to keep her quiet."

"Well that's just harsh," Rebekah said disgustedly. "Children are noisy; that's the fun part about them."

"There's a mention where they taught her self-regulation. That if she broke the strict rules they had set for her, she'd either offer herself to the nearest person around to punish her or she'd do it in private. We saw a little bit of that during breakfast. Who knows what else she's ever done to herself?"

"I'm more afraid of what _they_ have done to her," Elijah muttered, leaning against the mantle of the fireplace.

"There's also an entry about thinking of things for her to learn to make her more obedient and willing. She used to be quite feisty, anger issues. Seems like they got that under control."

"Oh, not entirely but it's bubbling back to the surface," Kol muttered, but a sense of pleasure hidden under his tone. "Sometimes you can just see the fire blaze in those eyes of hers. She just doesn't act upon it."

"It probably has something to do with the rules and enforcing them. Self-enforcing them. He even had a date marked where it said that it was the last time Bella had cried."

Klaus had remained silent as everything was said, moving to look out the window. "They had never used compulsion on her?"

"Well, the supernatural aspect is more your cup of tea. But according to a witch I spoke, Cold Ones can't compel, and the ones who could influence her in some way were locked up for treason."

He frowned as he turned to eye her. "That doesn't mean they had no allies of our kind. Nevermind that. Did you find anything else of importance in the journal that may help us now?"

"Bella started out as being a nuisance, a trade off with another group that had massive debts with Carlisle; then he turned her into a science project. With his ties to the medical community and somewhat in the supernatural, especially in Louisiana, he managed to acquire some _rare_ blood."

Kol let out a breath as he leaned back in his chair. "Why am I not liking the sound of where this is leading?"

"It turns out that indeed, Carlisle has made some vampire friends who weren't Cold Ones, and he was afraid that upon them visiting, they'd turn her. With a little help from a witch, he managed to make her blood safe, to his standards," Cami replied reluctantly. "I don't know more; that was all in the journal when it comes to that particular kind of blood with great magical properties."

"The only one that I can think of would come close would be Niklaus, but he hasn't been in close contact with the Cullens himself in a very long time," Elijah said thoughtfully.

"No, but about fifteen years ago I donated some of my blood to some witches for information about the curse," Klaus said bitterly.

"Nik!" Rebekah sighed.

"What? How was I supposed to know that they'd pass it on to others!"

Elijah sighed as he moved to stand between the two, blocking their view of one another. "Enough. If this is true, then we need to find out just how they used the blood on the girl and how you two are linked."

"Oh, I think we are all aware just _how_ I am linked to her," Klaus scoffed as he threw his hands up. "Question should be is how do we fix this?"

"The question is, can it be fixed?" Elijah pointed out. "Usually when your blood comes into play, things are irreversible, and-."

"This is problematic," Kol sighed as he got up from his chair and started to pace. "This is very problematic."

Klaus growled under his breath as he turned his eyes to his brother. Recalling breakfast, he curled his fingers into a fist as he fought the urge to attack him. "Yes. Please elaborate on why you feel that way, Brother. And while you are at it, would you mind explaining what that display was at the table earlier?"

"I wouldn't know how or where to start. I still think it's best if you'd figure it out on your own."

"Well pardon me but as we just discovered, it is likely I have been used and involved without my knowledge in whatever they have done to Bella! So talk!"

"Okay, here's the problem. You have a strong connection to Bella. Whether or not she notices, I do not know. With your strong connection comes certain urges, do they not? I've heard you wank more often than you used to."

"Oh bloody hell," Klaus propelled himself towards him, ready to attack. "I'll shove you in your box again-"

"Niklaus," Elijah pulled his brother away from their younger brother and threw him back in his chair. "You wanted to hear it, let him speak."

Shrugging his shoulders, he moved to pace the far length of the room, away from Camille and the others. "Hurry it up."

"I can't hurry things along without proper explaining, Nik," Kol spat. "Because if I leave one thing out, you'll jump to even more conclusions. As I said, I'm telling this under protest, yeah? It's not my story to tell, but hers."

"And she isn't speaking! What makes you think if she were even capable, that she would admit what happened to her? Just tell me already," Klaus said exhausted as he stared at him.

"The Cullens had their hierarchy, Daddy Cullen was the King, the favourite son was the prince, the strong son was the enforcer - and Bella's father. Then there was the Royal Guard, their protectors, and everyone else working at the main building were vampires too. From what I heard, Bella was gifted to Edward when she was eighteen. Fully trained to please Edward in any way possible. When she said that she hadn't been ready for you for the length of time she'd been here, I snapped." Kol said with a growl.

"Me? What? Why?" Klaus sputtered out.

"She bloody thinks that we're like _them_ and that she's _yours_. She looked nice today because she gave in to the fact that she can't go _home_ and that you are her new leader. Her prince. The one who can do everything he wants with her and she has to be ready at all times. Now, this is problematic in itself, but with the connection that you and her share, this is going to be even more so."

The hybrid stood there speechless and shook his head, unable to form any words. "I...but...I didn't…"

"This also explains why she was so tense at the table because she must have thought that we were merely workers, working for you. That's what she knows, Klaus. We've spent so much time with her that she started to think of us as somewhat equal; I'm not entirely sure to what level. Leaders don't show themselves often."

Turning and covering his face with his hands, he tried to think of how to rectify the situation. To let her see that they were nothing that she had come to believe. "This is beyond anything I could have anticipated," he admitted as he looked around the room in a daze.

Cami nodded slowly in agreement. "I thought we were simply dealing with a brainwashed cult member, not-"

"Obviously this must be one of the reasons why Jacob insisted on sending her with you," Klaus commented as he looked to Kol briefly. "I'm going to rip that wolf's intestines out of his belly the next time I see him."

"What else should he have done? Let her get absorbed by everything and die of a heart attack because everything is scary?"

"Of course not!" he screamed, growing defensive again. Blinking, he took a deep breath and faced the courtyard. "Have her spend her days down here if you can. I can stay in the study, close enough that she can see that I am around the family just as much if what you said is true."

"Can I say something?" Cami spoke up. "I think we should deal with one problem at a time. Of course, she's traumatized and has been raised differently. If we manage to change her mindset about how she should live her life, then maybe we can deprogram her from the other… issue. I've been talking to an expert who deals primarily with ex-cult members, and he gave me some pointers to work with to help things along. It's going to be hard, because it's all she knows. All her responses come from her being raised abnormally, which, to her, was perfectly normal."

"And what are we supposed to do? Make her feel bad all the time for failing at life?" Rebekah shot at Cami, slightly agitated. This all brought back memories of the time where there were slaves who were treated the same way, and she hadn't liked it then either.

"You continue doing what you've been doing, it certainly works, I mean, you got her out of her room, that's a big deal," Cami said with a shrug. "If I find something else that might work, I'll tell you. We're all out of our depths here."

"We're appreciative of your help, Camille," Elijah smiled at her while keeping an eye on his brother, who seemed to be more and more like a caged animal. "Your insights are valued."

~o.O.o~

They had given Bella some space after the breakfast for the rest of the day, and when Rebekah came into her room the day after, all the food had remained untouched. Sighing, she looked around the room and found Bella curled up underneath the bed. "What are you doing there?" Rebekah asked as she lowered herself to the ground and peeked underneath the bed, making eye contact with her. "Have you been here the entire time?"

When Bella nodded, she reached for her and pulled her out with ease. "Come on, let's get you outside. The sun shines, and you and I are going to bask in the heat for a while… although, with your complexion, we might not stay out in the sun for too long, don't want you to burn all over."

When Bella was resisting her, Rebekah stopped tugging on her and leveled her gaze on her. "Either you walk out here on your own, or I will throw you over my shoulder and carry you downstairs myself. Nik may bloody put a dagger in me again, but it would be worth it this time. You have nothing to fear."

'This one is-.'

"Nope, not hearing it," she grinned. "Get it? Not hearing you? You don't have a voice!"

"Rebekah!" Klaus' voice could be heard coming from down the hall.

"Oh, get a life, Nik! It's my turn!"

Bella winced at the tone of voice Rebekah used on her brother, the King. Wasn't his word rule and didn't Rebekah imply that she was breaking a rule?

In a blink, Klaus was standing in the doorway, his arms held behind him, as he eyed his sister. "What are you thinking?" he questioned her calmly.

"Trust me, Nik, I'm going to try something. Elijah and Kol had their ways; I have another. I won't harm her," she replied simply.

He turned his eyes down to Bella, and they softened. "If she does something that you dislike Bella, tell me. Otherwise - enjoy your ladies' day," he smiled with a slight bow, growling under his breath at his sister before he walked away.

So there were consequences for Rebekah for talking to him like that? Bella was confused, why would Klaus be concerned if Bella was harmed? If Rebekah wanted to harm her, then she should, shouldn't she?

Rebekah grinned as she looked at Bella. "You heard him. He's fine with it, are you walking or am I carrying you?"

Bella sighed in resignation and dropped her head, following Rebekah out the room, her stomach letting out a growl as she passed the food. It had been making noise all night, but she had been ignoring it. She was getting more flesh on her body, and she needed to be perfect. She was no longer perfect.

"I suppose a nice brunch would be in order first," the blond smirked as she led her through the building to the large living area where a table had been set up. "Come now. Eat. You are much too thin; we need to get you healthy. Hmm…" she trailed off thoughtfully.

Bella eyed the table, there wasn't anything hot on there, presumingly because they didn't like it when she punished herself the day before. She reluctantly reached for the glass of orange juice. She could have that. She had to admit, her throat was still sore, but it was good. A reminder to keep in line.

Rebekah silently picked up one of the pastries that her brother tried to get the girl to eat, nibbling on a piece. "Have something solid. This is delicious," she pushed the plate forward an inch.

Bella knew that if she'd refuse, Rebekah would only keep pushing, and she didn't want to aggravate her. She had ways to get it out if needed. She reached for one of the smaller pastries and took a bite, looking at Rebekah as she did.

She smiled back at her, pleased, and turned as she continued to eat her own as she walked around the area. "I've always enjoyed these. It's quite delicious, is it not, Bella?" she asked.

Bella nodded. She liked the sweet taste of the pastry, much like pancakes. She liked pancakes. But sweetness was going to be bad for her teeth and body, maybe, if she dared, she could beg Klaus for normal food again?

"I didn't hear you. What did you say?" Rebekah asked as she was across the room, sorting through several magazines left out.

'Yes,' she mouthed, looking at Rebekah as she took another nibble of her pastry. Half was enough. She put it down on an empty plate and took another sip of her orange juice.

Klaus had been watching the exchange from his study and sighed. Shaking his head he left the doors open as he turned back to set up a blank canvas to start a new painting. "She's not playing your game Rebekah," he muttered.

"She will," she whispered, playfully, but with a devious tone in her voice, before turning to Bella. "Have you ever spoken, at all? Or how about when you make noise, you feel your throat hum, right?"

Bella nodded. She didn't like the feeling if she had to be honest. King Carlisle had told her that she was an abomination as she shouldn't have been born with something called chords; she didn't deserve them. When she got older, he had wanted to remove them, but Bella had already been taught to keep quiet, so he didn't have to do it anymore.

"Well, that's what happens when you use your voice. If you use it, words come out of your mouth, and we can actually hear you."

'This one doesn't need to talk. Only to please.'

"Well, it would please all of us if you started to use your voice."

Bella blinked at that as she considered her words. It would please them if she'd make a sound? They had said so on multiple occasions, but Bella thought it was merely said in jest. 'This one doesn't know how.'

"Oh, all you have to do is to identify how to use them, it has a lot to do with breathing. If you want, I could give you a little nudge in the right direction?" Rebekah closed the magazine and looked at Bella, her face suddenly had a determined look on her face, as if she was willing to learn. "Watch this, brother," Rebekah whispered as she saw Bella nod.

Rebekah turned around so Bella couldn't see her face, and within a second, she was in front of Bella, vamp face out, causing Bella to jump backward and scream out loud. Bella kept screaming as she backed away from Rebekah and right into a wall, despite Rebekah's face having changed back.

Klaus left his study in a rush and pushed his sister back, away from the frightened girl. "Have you gone mad?!" he hollered at her as he stood protectively between the two.

"No, I have not!" Rebekah shot at her brother. "For her to start using her voice is to get used to the feeling!"

"Not at the cost of Bella being frightened of us! Elijah is probably higher up in her favor than you now. I can't say I disagree with that judgment! We'll find some other way for her to learn to speak," he glared at her. Even though he wasn't touching Bella, he could feel her body's vibrations through the air. His sister was close to meeting a dagger.

"Well, I think Kol would agree with me in this case. A little bit of tough love works wonders."

He scowled as he shook his head. "Kol is a bloody idiot as well if he feels the same. Either of you try something like this again; I won't hesitate. I'll put you back in your boxes for another century."

Rebekah huffed as she picked up a dinner roll and stormed out of the room. "I didn't hurt her!"

"No. Not this time, but I can feel her fear," he said evenly as his body shook with his own emotions. "That is enough for me."

Bella was forcing herself to get herself together; her king was visibly upset, and that was wrong. She had seen a vampire's face before, but Rebekah's was different. Scarier, with the lines visible on her face and it had taken her by surprise. The noise had hurt her throat more too. She took a step closer to Klaus and gently took his hand and squeezed it as she looked up to him with a reassuring smile. He needed that. He was upset.

Klaus turned as he looked at Bella with hesitation. He couldn't help but smile back. "Come. You can sit with me for the day if you wish," he murmured. "Though it would be rather boring."

She nodded as she looked at him with a hopeful look on her face. Her king finally wanted her to be close to him; she wasn't a complete waste of time to him. She'd do everything he pleased, he needed to feel better. Bella gently pulled him with her as she started towards the stairs, leading him back to his study.

He followed silently as he kept an eye on her. Once inside, he led her to the couch and sat down. "Bella… I think we should talk about what just happened downstairs," he started, trying to figure out the best way to approach her.

She took a deep breath and shook her head. "No," her voice sounded soft, raw, but it was there. She realized what she had done and beamed at him. Did it please him?

Hearing her voice, as low as it was, made him look to her in surprise. "Well - perhaps I shall be lenient this time on Rebekah," he said, a smile forming at the corner of his lips. "She was correct when she told you that we all would love to hear you speak, to voice yourself."

She felt how her body responded to him being pleased with her. She did something right, and it was oddly satisfying. Maybe she could remember how she used to speak when she was small, in secret with Rosalie, before Carlisle found out. It was such a long time ago, though. It was going to be difficult, but anything to please Klaus. She nodded slowly as she tried to get the shock of her loud noise out of her system. Seeing Rebekah's vampire face without warning had been scary. 'This one knows you're-' "V-v-vampyres."

Klaus nodded slowly, pursing his lips at what she had started to say. "Yes. We are, just not like the Cullens. Bella - why do you not say I or me? This one? You are not just something. Someone. You are someone. Do you understand?"

'This one exists for obedience and pleasure for others. This one should be invisible and only seen when needed. Kept secret.'

"No Bella. They were wrong, but I won't argue the subject now. I only hope in time you come to realize the truth," he admitted sadly. Reaching out, he tucked her hair behind her ear. "You are a beautiful girl and should never be hidden from the world. Just remember that. Now...would you like to read while I paint? Or do you wish to do something else?"

She blinked at the questions, why was he asking her what she wanted? She didn't want for anything. 'What would you -' "like?"

"Personally, I would love to leave and hunt down some witches and Cullen's for many reasons, but I find myself desiring to stay back more often than not."

"Why?" she shuffled a little closer to him and gently put her hand on his leg. "Hunt?" She cocked her head, to make sure it sounded like a question.

"The Cullens? For ruining you and robbing you of a normal life," Klaus said bitterly, carefully eying her hand on his leg. His body was betraying him once again by responding to her nearness. "And a long time ago, I made a trade with a witch for information. The price was some of my blood."

'This one- I - don't understand.'

He thought for a moment and let out a breath. "Very well, let me start at the beginning," he got to his feet, leaving Bella on the couch, her eyes following him to his easel. "I hope you don't mind, but I find it's easier to talk about this when I'm painting."

"No," she whispered, not minding at all that he wanted to paint. It was his wish, his will. Who was she to stop him? She had closely observed the paintings in her room and loved the details he had put in them. To see him work on a new creation, was only an honor.

Klaus told her about the origins of his family that they were the product of a Viking warrior and a human witch. Elijah, Finn and their older sister Freya were born in the old world and him, Kol, Rebekah and their baby brother Henrik were born in a town they now called Mystic Falls. Bella marveled in the details he told her, almost as if it happened yesterday, almost as if she could see it happen before her eyes. While she could follow most of the story, the part about witchcraft was still a blur to her, making the story a little hard to grasp.

He turned around to see the look on her face when he mentioned his Aunt Dahlia taking his big sister Freya, but could see that Bella had had enough for today. "Enough history for today, how about I shall tell you more tomorrow?"

'If you wish,' Bella replied, hoping that this wouldn't be the end of their time together. Watching him paint was intriguing, she never had such a pull to something before, she wasn't allowed to, but he didn't seem to mind.

"I'm parched, how about -"

Bella quickly got off the sofa and looked around to find something for him to drink. She found some liquor bottles and headed to them, but he stopped her.

"No, you're not going to get me anything," he said sweetly. "We have servants for that."

Confused, Bella thought about the vampires Carlisle had come to visit often. While the Cullens didn't drink from her, many vampires had had a taste of her, would Klaus drink from her? She lifted her wrist to offer it to him. "Drink?"

He let out a low growl, not wanting to scare Bella off, but he wanted to take a sip so bad. "As I said, we have servants for that, love," he said gently and took her arm and lowered it back to her body. "Have you met vampires like us before?" It was likely Bella hadn't encountered them if Carlisle wanted to keep her hidden.

Bella nodded as she watched him pour an alcoholic drink for himself. "Yes," she eventually managed to say. It was still weird to try and speak. It had been so long, but it felt so natural. And unnatural at the same time. When Klaus turned to her again, she continued. 'Edward offered this one - me - to them, to drink. I had to drink from them too.'

Klaus fought the urge to throw his glass through the room, and he had to keep his strength in check in case the glass would shatter. He now realized what it meant when Cami said that Bella's blood was made safe with his blood. No other vampire would be able to turn her, it would make her safe around them. Pretty smart, he had to hand it to the man. A walking, no-talking blood bag to keep the vampires happy while discussing business and they couldn't turn her and take her away.

Anger rose in him again when he realized that Bella must have come close to death many times.

Bella noticed his tension again and smiled at him, caressing his arm. 'You can drink from me. I will be fine.'

While he applauded her use of the first person, he was this close to indeed take a bite out of her and drink from her to comfort him. "I think it's best if you'd leave now, Bella," he managed to say kindly. "We shall continue our talk tomorrow."

Dropping her arms to her side, she bowed slightly and quietly made her way out of his study. He listened to see where she was going, and it seemed like her bedroom. When he heard the door quietly close, he let out a roar and threw his glass through the room.

Someone was going to die.


	6. Beautiful Disaster

**A/N: I lost a dare, enjoy!**

* * *

It took him all night, but he managed to track down the witch he had traded his blood with all those years ago. It was almost as if she had known something was going to happen; she had made it nearly impossible to be found.

Almost.

"Becky, you have been a very naughty girl," he said as he shoved her against the wall, pinning her hands above her head. "What gave you the right to redistribute my blood?"

"It became mine the moment you handed the vial to me, Klaus," she said defiantly, kicking him in his groin, hoping he would let go of her, but he didn't. "And I told you, I had an interested buyer for your blood, but you wouldn't listen. Too self-absorbed with finding more information on your curse."

"What did they promise you in return for my blood?"

"Protection from you."

Klaus scoffed. "Obviously they failed," he bit her neck and started to drink her blood, but as expected, it was laced with vervain and wolfsbane. Pity. He spat out the blood and angrily looked at her. "You know those herbs won't stop me," he let go of her, and before she could run off, he grabbed her tightly. "Thanks to your actions, an innocent girl got hurt. Experimented on. You compromised me and my family. I'm going to make sure you won't ever do that again."

With those words, he lifted her up and broke her back over his knee before throwing her on the floor and pulled her head off her body in one swift movement. Taking it as a trophy to show his siblings, he left her establishment, picking up her grimoire on his way out.

He returned to the compound covered in the witch's blood and tossed her head into Elijah's bedroom before continuing his way to his study. He was welcomed by the sweet scent of their guest on the corridor; but it was stronger inside his study. Quietly making his way in, he found her asleep, in his bed.

Despite everything she'd gone through, she looked like an angel, undisturbed in her slumber and there he was, covered in blood like some monster. He was a monster, but he didn't want her to see that just yet. Backing out of his sleeping quarters, he headed towards the bathroom and cleaned himself up.

What was she doing in his bed? He had sent her away earlier that day because he had been afraid to hurt her in his anger, but there she was. Klaus wasn't going to get any sleep at all; he was simply going to watch her sleep.

"Niklaus what-" Elijah's loudly demanded as he barged into the room.

"Quiet," he growled as he looked at his brother from his chair. "Don't wake her."

"She's in your bed?" Elijah replied, his voice lowered at his brother's request. "What did you do?"

"Nothing," he replied defensively. "She was already there when I returned."

Elijah hummed as he leaned against the doorway. "I see you've been hunting. Any particular reason you ever so rudely tossed a head in my room?"

Klaus smirked widely. "That was the witch who gave the Cullens my blood. I had to make sure she wouldn't do something like that again. Ruining an innocent life and compromising our safety. I am sure, her name will amuse Rebekah greatly as the witch was called Rebecca."

"Of course," he replied as if it was the most reasonable thing to do. "Speaking of Rebekah, our sister told me about what happened today. Care to elaborate?"

"I will have to make my apologies to her," Klaus sighed as he rubbed his eyes. "As it turns out, she wasn't completely in the wrong. Oh, Elijah, Bella's voice…"

"She speaks?"

"Barely, but her voice, Elijah, it's… music to my ears."

"Oh dear god, you're even further gone than I initially thought."

"Oh, you'll think the same thing when you hear it," Klaus smiled at him. "I've also started to tell her about our family after she asked why I wanted to hunt down the witch and the Cullens, which I explained to her. Because she didn't understand, I started to tell her our history."

"How did she respond?"

"I think I lost her a little bit when I mentioned witchcraft, but I shall continue tomorrow. Bella offered me her wrist without blinking when I said I was parched."

"She did what?"

"Edward had her offer herself to vampires of our kind for them to drink. And they fed her their blood, but she never turned."

"Camille said that he had used your blood to make her blood safe," he muttered and breathed in sharply. "Oh, that poor girl."

"I had to send her away as I was very close to losing it, so imagine my surprise to find her in my bed."

Elijah nodded slowly. "If I'm not mistaken, she's also quite naked," he replied. He then remembered her nudity in the beginning; it had started to get less and less, mainly because he'd insisted that she'd be dressed when he came to bring her her breakfast. "At first I thought she was an exhibitionist like yourself or Kol."

"How so?"

He shuffled a little with his feet, not daring to look at his brother. "I've seen her nude, quite a few times when I brought her food in the morning. Hence why I insisted that she'd wear clothes and receive her own."

His brother had seen her without clothes on, and it made him angry. At least he didn't sound as if he had been getting off on that, but instead tried to make her look decent in the morning. "You reckon that if you hadn't stepped in, she'd be walking around naked all day?"

"It is most probable, yes," he replied sadly. "Especially when you keep in mind her need to be ready."

"While there's nothing wrong with walking around naked, she has to want it herself, not because it's conditioned," Klaus said with a low growl, not moving from his chair. "I'm going to kill them."

"And I'm sure we all gladly want to help you do that," Elijah replied, agreeing with him. "However, don't get yourself all worked up again. You have a tiny human in your bed."

Sighing, he relaxed in his chair. "How are we going to fix her, Elijah? Without using compulsion?"

"A lot of patience. Look at what we've achieved in the time she's been with us, Niklaus. She discovered new food, she's leaving her room, she's using her voice. We still have an awful long way to go, but the first few steps are there."

"I wish-"

"Don't we all," he turned around and headed to the door. "Do try and get some rest, brother. You'll need your wits if you're going to tell her more of our story."

Klaus didn't say anything but turned his gaze back to Bella as his brother left again. It was easier said than done with the resting part with the girl in his bed. He could take the sofa, but that wasn't comfortable, and he could easily do without a night of rest.

A soft moan rose him from his thoughts, and he quietly watched her as she stirred, her hand was moving in her slumber, he could see it move underneath the sheets towards what looked like her core. Klaus blinked. Was she going to satisfy herself in her sleep?

Perhaps it was wrong to deny her, now that he knew of that part of her, was it wrong of him to deny her services? He'd used prostitutes for fun in the past, watched them go mad from need and withdrawal because they were so used to having sex every day. It started the same as Bella was currently exhibiting now and -

No. He had to stop himself there, was he seriously considering giving in to her? Yes. He had his own needs. Maybe it would satisfy the need inside of him, the need to surround himself with her scent, having her would mean that she'd be on him. No harm would be done, he could always compel her to forget their encounter. But he'd feel guilty.

He couldn't stop watching her as she indeed, started to satisfy herself. He couldn't help but wonder if she'd ever gotten real pleasure whenever she'd been used by the Cullens or their friends or anyone Edward fancied loaning her to.

Groaning, he forced himself to retreat to the bathroom to take a cold shower until she was done. He was going to compel her alright, to dull her conditioned desires until she would know the difference. Or would he do more harm than good with it? What if she'd never figure out what the difference was?

She was just going to have to spend her nights in her own bed. He wasn't going to allow her to sleep in his until that happened. Maybe, because she was sleeping, she was dreaming pleasantly, and this was her desire. He could always take a peek in her head…

Turning off the shower, he made his way back into the room and decided to do just that, maybe it would give him some more insight into her. If there was indeed hope for restoring her. Klaus quietly sat down on the bed and caressed her hair out of her face. He had to smile, as it seemed she was enjoying herself. A small smile was dancing across her lips as she continued to stimulate herself.

This was wrong on so many levels.

He tuned out her quiet moans, the scent of her juices underneath the blankets and closed his eyes, so he didn't have to see her beautiful face. He quickly found a way inside her mind, but immediately retreated again without having had a glimpse of what was going on. Klaus got off the bed and headed back into the bathroom. He couldn't do this to her. Not to her. Not ever to her. While he had no qualms about doing this to his siblings on occasion, he simply couldn't do it to Bella.

Cold shower and her sleeping in her own bed was the solution to this. Compulsion wouldn't work. It was a good thing that she expressed desire in her sleep, what if the compulsion would stunt all of her emotions? She had only just started to show pieces of herself that had been buried for so long, and it would be a shame if she couldn't experience them properly.

If she wanted to sleep in his bed, it should be because she wanted to; not because she felt the obligation to. Not because of her training, but because of what she wanted.

~o.O.o~

He made sure he was out of the room when Bella awoke a few hours later. He did not want to see her naked body out of respect to her and was the first to sit down at the breakfast table. Klaus hoped that Bella would join them voluntarily, but he feared that she wouldn't. Which was alright, Rebekah had given her quite the scare the day before.

But much to his surprise, Bella was the next one joining him. "Good" 'Morning,' she greeted Klaus with a little smile on her face. She smelled freshly washed, and she was wearing a pair of jeans that didn't come with Camille's shopping trip. While Cami's shopping trip had been mostly for comfort, these undoubtedly came from Rebekah. They fit her perfectly, as did her shirt.

"Good morning, Bella," he responded as he watched her round the table to walk to him with no hesitation in her step. She then got to her knees in front of him and looked up at him through her eyelashes. Bloody hell. He swallowed hard and forced himself to keep calm. "Did you sleep well?"

'Did I do something to displease you?'

He was glad that she had started to refer to herself as a person and not as an object, but the question baffled him. "You did not."

'Is my body not pleasing enough for you?'

"What do you mean?" Could she stop looking at him like that? Or could someone walk in, now? Of course not.

'Hearing my voice pleased' "you" 'the day before today. My appearance in your bed did' "not?"

Klaus sighed and tiredly ran a hand over his face. "No. Yes. Well…" Was he blushing? "It was certainly unexpected."

"Why?"

While he was pleased that she was starting to ask questions, he didn't know how to proceed. "What were you expecting me to do?"

She now added biting her lip to her seduction technique. He was certain she had more in her arsenal, and he secretly hoped to see them all, but not now. 'Whatever you wished.'

"Bella…"

'Is this body not pleasing to you?' She tugged on her shirt, almost as if she wanted to pull it off of her to reveal herself to him. He found him quietly staring at her as she kept tugging, keeping her eyes fixed on him. 'I admit, I gained a little bit of weight...'

He just looked at her, shocked about her being so forward all of a sudden. Had yesterday been an awakening for her? "I didn't come home until very late," he eventually said.

Bella removed her shirt, revealing herself to him. She proudly pressed her breasts forward and met his eyes again. "I could" 'have given you a massage. For your hard work.'

He sucked in a breath as she moved between his legs, her arms resting on them and her hands were close to his groin. He hoped someone would come in now, but it was more likely that they were waiting somewhere out of sight to see what would happen.

'You deserve some release,' she smiled at him, her hands moving even further to his groin, they were dangerously close now.

"Please stop."

"Why?"

He let out a low growl as he finally managed to grab her hands and gently put them somewhere else other than close to his penis, it was already throbbing with desire. "What do you want, Bella?"

'I want to please' "you."

"Is that what you want or is that what you think you need to do?" He grabbed her t-shirt and pulled it over her head. "Because if this comes from your need and desire other than it being a conditioned response, then we'll have to have a different conversation."

Bella blinked at what he was saying, and how he was putting her shirt back on. He didn't like her body, did he? It didn't please him. She needed to make sure that it would. Eat and rinse, probably, because they wouldn't allow her not to eat either. She thought they had built up something between them yesterday. He was the one hearing her voice for the first time, and he was the leader. She was his, what was he talking about?

"Are you doing it to please me, or yourself?"

If she was doing this for herself, she was in big trouble, wasn't she? "You."

"Wrong answer. Sit down and have breakfast."

"Me! Me, me!" she said quickly, panicked from Klaus' tone. She had made him angry with her, and that was bad. She was screwing this up. She had come too close, she even noticed it in her response to him. But she wanted it, she needed it. There was so much tension in her body from not having had anyone using it that she felt as if she was going to explode. Edward always allowed her to climax when she did something that pleased him. He'd help her along with his hand, or sometimes with something warmer, and left her to finish herself.

If he'd refuse her, she'd try it Kol or Elijah. And otherwise, she'd simply have to help herself, she could stay quiet, nobody would know the difference. Or maybe, with trying it on Kol or Elijah would cause Klaus to get angry and give her to someone as punishment. She needed a release. 'I need, please.' Begging for it was another mistake. She'd punish herself later, but she was desperate.

Was denying her sex a form of torture, conditioning, on itself? He felt sick about it, his entire being screamed that he just had to take her, but his refusal could be a lesson to her. He could always find himself a whore if needed, but to use her? That was out of the question. However, knowing her craftiness, he was certain she'd try to get someone else to use her body for their sexual pleasures if she offered it so willingly, and that was cause for concern.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he gently cupped her chin and made him look at her, desperation was all over her face. "You will not offer yourself for sexual pleasures to anyone until you have figured out if it's what you want, or if it's something you have been taught. If you're high strung, you have to tell me, and we will figure something out to help you. Do you understand?" Of course she understood, he just compelled her to save him from the misery of seeing her do this to his brothers or worse, someone he didn't trust at all. When she nodded, he released her. "Now, please take your seat and let's have some breakfast. I'm sure my siblings will arrive soon; they probably have overheard our entire conversation."

The moment his siblings entered the room, Bella spoke up again, pausing after every word as if it was a difficult to find the right way to speak. "Am I allowed to help myself and come after breakfast?"

The one full sentence she spoke in her voice, still raw and soft, but her first full sentence, and it was about finishing herself off? His siblings looked stupefied at both the sound of her voice and the question, and he couldn't help but laugh. "Rebekah will buy you something that will give you pleasure after breakfast so that you don't have to use your fingers."

"I am?"

"Yes, you are."

Kol looked at Bella in awe as he leaned on the table. "Please say something again, that was beautiful."

"Good morning?" Bella took a sip of her water. Her throat felt dry and still hurting from the hot tea from a few days ago. She then coughed and took a deep breath.

"Easy, Poppet, tiny little steps," Kol smirked and reached across the table to he ruffle her hair. "Take your time, there's no rush to form complete sentences yet. Have a pancake." He flopped a pancake onto her plate and poured a generous amount of syrup all over it.

"I owe you an apology, sister," Klaus said after he had managed to collect himself again. "It seems that your approach worked. However, the next time you want to do something like that, run it by me first."

Rebekah huffed as she buttered a roll and put some cheese in it. "Sure Nik, I want to have sex tonight, is that alright with you?"

"When matters concern her, Rebekah," he growled.

"What are your plans for today, Bella?" Kol asked her. He didn't like her pushing around her pancake, but at least she was eating something. "Any exciting things planned?"

She looked at Klaus for an answer, but he didn't respond. In fact, he seemed just as eager as Kol to hear the answer. 'If it pleases him, watch Klaus paint and hear his story.'

"And she'll satisfy herself after lunch," Rebekah rolled her eyes and stabbed a boiled egg with her knife. "I can't believe you're making me pick up a vibrator for her," she muttered towards Klaus, causing Kol to snicker.

"Why not? You use one all the time, why not give her one?"

"She's innocent!"

"Hardly," Kol coughed as he choked on his food.


	7. Buzzkill

The next few days were agony for Klaus. Bella was walking around a lot more relaxed and less high strung due to having been given something to help her relieve herself. But secretly, Klaus wished she'd return to using her fingers because the buzzing started at the most inconvenient of times.

Such as in the middle of the night after returning home from his trip to gather information about the vampires Bella had come in contact with. While drinking from a human or during a phone call. The worst while instructing Marcel on how to handle his vampires.

At times like that, he wished he didn't have his vampire hearing.

And for some reason, Bella stayed away from Klaus as much as possible. While it had gotten easier for her to join them for breakfast at the table, and sitting on a chair as an equal, she hadn't made eye contact with him or had spoken to him. He did enjoy hearing her voice, though; he always kept an ear out for when she'd speak.

Although they all had been itching to feed her some of their blood to help heal her throat from the burns, they all had agreed not to. As her throat had begun to recover, her voice began to sound richer, and it never failed to bring a smile to his face.

Rebekah and Kol had started with introducing Bella to human entertainment and the idiot box. Telling her that everything she saw was fictional a story, but if you looked passed that, sometimes it was an accurate representation of how the world worked. The first day, they had a Full House marathon. Not a typical family description, but it taught Bella that family was all about love and respect for each other. And of course, having fun.

The next day, they had a Dawson's Creek marathon. While Klaus questioned the choices of his siblings, he realized it was a good idea to show her non-supernatural focused entertainment. That there was a life without it and that it wasn't as scary as it appeared to be. For a moment, Klaus had feared that Bella would eventually decide to turn her back to everyone, to them. To him. But if she'd do that, it would be her choice and that was the good thing about it. Not that he wanted her to leave. Quite the contrary. He wished nothing more for her to stay.

The third day, his siblings thought it was a good idea to show the human's idea of a vampire. Or one of their ideas, anyway. They told Bella that even though she'd been surrounded by vampires for all of her life, that they were, in fact, hidden in plain sight, not known to many humans. That entertainment like this was a good thing because it taught people the wrong thing about vampires in general. Should they come into contact with a vampire, they'd think the monster wasn't real and holy crosses would protect them. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. How embarrassing.

However, Klaus listened intently to Rebekah's reasoning for choosing this particular series. It wasn't because there were vampires in it, but it was because the main character, a woman, was strong, just like Bella. She was juggling 'normal life' - her friends, her school - with her 'job', hunting vampires. Over the seasons, Buffy's 'normal' shifted a few times, but it was always the same. Same group of friends. Same support system.

Kol asked Bella if she could tell the difference between season one Buffy and season two Buffy and Bella nodded. After Buffy's resurrection, she became quiet, withdrawn and engaged in behavior that wasn't particularly her own. At that point, Cami joined in on the conversation. Klaus hadn't realized Cami had been there. She explained to Bella that Buffy likely suffered from PTSD after her death and resurrection. She was so overwhelmed by everything that she mostly closed down and rejected help.

While Bella hadn't died, Cami asked her if she could recognize herself in that situation. Cami sounded so hopeful, and Klaus was eager to hear what Bella had to say, but apart from her vocal 'no', he couldn't listen to the rest because she wasn't using her voice. Bless Rebekah for realizing Klaus was probably listening in. "Season two Buffy is your normal, isn't it, Bella? You've been through so much crap that they forced the spark of life out of you."

"You've been essentially living with PTSD and depression for all of your life," Cami's voice sounded, and while he couldn't see Bella, he could practically see her roll her eyes at that.

Changing the subject, Rebekah grinned. "So, if you had to choose, who would you fancy? The angelic Angel, vampire with a soul, or Spike, the rebel? If I didn't know any better and were a dimwitted human, I would totally fall for someone like Angel."

"Oh, get off it, sister," Kol laughed. "You'd be bored with someone like him in a heartbeat and break his neck."

"Sometimes it's nice to be courted, there's nothing wrong with that!"

"Spike does love his Drusilla very much."

"But he's mental!"

"I like Spike," Bella replied quietly. "His madness compliments his love's madness. I think that's beautiful."

Of course, they decided to stop watching for the day and the buzzing resumed in Bella's room. Day four, Klaus was glad that the batteries stopped working. Or actually, Rebekah later revealed that she had replaced the batteries with dead ones upon Elijah's insistence. He figured they had tortured their brother long enough.

They all sat down with Cami that night, without Bella, to discuss her again. "Frankly," Cami started as Klaus sipped on his bourbon. "She fits right in with you guys."

"Elaborate, please," Elijah coached her, an amused smile on his lips.

"Oh, I can make it very simple for all of you. If you weren't thousand-year-old vampires, you would have been like her. Not that you have the same experiences, but you all suffer from a degree of PTSD, depression… mania at some point, a different view on society than regular humans… I mean, come on. Your father was abusive. What would have happened if you didn't become vampires? More abuse. War with the werewolves. Rebekah at a risk of getting raped."

Kol snarled at that. "Shut up, no one's hurting Rebekah if I have something to say about it."

"You cling to each other to hold on to your own sense of normal. You can drink each other's blood at times, but you stick together. Survivors. You're a thousand years old. You've seen enough for several lifetimes, and the only reason you aren't behaving like her is because you are each other's support system. And you know that eventually, things will turn around because you've been through it all before."

"What else is there to do?" Rebekah said with a shrug.

"I understand we're beyond the point of help, Camille," Klaus said bleakly. "But can she be helped, fixed?"

"With more time and more patience, she can learn to live with it, but she will have issues for the rest of her life. She's a bright young woman, and she's a hoot if she feels comfortable enough to crawl out of her shell. Don't forget, her normal is the opposite of your normal which caused her to be damaged, but if she decides to stick around with you, she's going to be fine."

"What if she decides to leave?"

"It is difficult to say. At least too early to tell. On her own, I think she'll revert to what she knows and engage in risque behavior with strangers. She might function enough, but without a proper support system… I don't know," she replied after a moment of thought. "Plenty of people with PTSD can live healthy lives. Plenty of former cult members have successfully reintegrated into society, but Bella's different. She's been raised the way she's been raised. It's in her blood, just like it's in yours."

"So what do we do?"

"As crazy as it may sounds, I think having her watch television actually works somewhat. I am afraid that Buffy may have triggered something in her that needs to be monitored but try to watch some shows that are fun, fluffy and standard. Oh, Married with Children is an excellent example of a dysfunctionally functional family."

"I'll give her a choice tomorrow, but I think she wants to finish watching all seven seasons of Buffy," Rebekah grinned. "Don't worry, we'll keep an eye on her, but maybe it's good that something might trigger her. She needs to start showing some emotion. I want to see tears."

"You're so mean, sister," Kol grinned. "But, if you want to see tears, we could pop her outside into the street and see what happens?"

"Absolutely not!" Klaus growled at his brother. "She's not ready for that, and you know it!"

"Have her watch movies like… I don't know. Wuthering Heights. Somersault. Shows like… Gilmore Girls, more Dawson's Creek. Try to engage her, make her think."

"Wuthering Heights was a book before it was a movie," Elijah muttered.

"Does she know how to read?"

"I don't know."

"But you said you had an idea, and now you're not following up on that idea?" Rebekah pointed out as she looked at Cami.

"I changed my mind over the last few days. This approach is so much better and more entertaining for all parties," Cami said with a shrug. "If it fails, we can always fall back to that."

"Was that all? I have a painting to get back to now that the persistent buzzing has stopped."

~o.O.o~

Bella was waiting for him in his study when he returned. She was sitting on the sofa, fortunately still dressed and she looked alert. She got to her feet when he walked in, a big smile on her face and her hands behind her back. "Good evening, love," he greeted her as he walked straight to his canvas. "What can I help you with?"

He heard her sit down again, and he deliberately stood with his back towards her so he could hear her lovely voice, she had no excuse now not to talk. "Could you tell me more?"

"About what?"

"Your life?"

"Now that you're able to talk, why won't you tell me a story?" He asked kindly as he turned around, catching the brief moment of her eyes flickering down again. "It's only fair."

"My life hasn't been as ex… exit… Full as yours."

"Exciting? Everyone has at least one story to tell," he said enthusiastically as he sat down on the sofa next to her. "Come on, love, tell me something."

She was quiet for a long time as if she tried to remember something worth telling. Her life hadn't been as exciting as Klaus', it had been more or less the same every day, and she had liked it that way. "I suppose I could tell you why Kol calls me 'a little mooner' sometimes…"

He had wished it would be a story from the past, but this was also a story he was interested in. "Go on then," he smiled at her.

"Uh… on the first day after he arrived, Jacob was tasked to show him around. I didn't know who he was and why he was in the castle because it was clear that he wasn't one of them. It wasn't my place to be curious about him, either. They walked in on me while I was performing a task for Edward. The first thing Kol saw was my… cushions."

He had sort of gathered that from the little nickname. He wasn't going to press on what type of task, as he didn't want to know the answer. Klaus smiled at her and nodded encouragingly for her to continue.

"The second time Kol ran into me, was literally walking into me. He wasn't watching where he was going. He said he had his eyes closed because he saw me, but he bumped into me while I was finding something on the floor on the Guard level. They said they had dropped something and wanted me to find it. His knee bumped against my cushions, and I fell over, much to the delight of the guards. Of course, I knew they liked to see that so maybe Kol had been in on it, I don't know."

"I doubt it, love."

"The third time, Kol greeted me with 'Hello, little mooner!'. I didn't understand at first, and he had to explain it to me. Apparently it was foreign to him to see a naked girl all the time?"

"Hardly," Klaus smiled at her, finding the story sad, but she didn't seem to think there was something wrong with it. "Thinking back, how does it make you feel?"

"I don't understand."

"Now that you're not walking around without clothes anymore, how does it make you feel?"

"Warm, but would you like me to walk around without clothes? I can do that!" she said hopeful. "Clothes can be very restricting when performing certain tasks."

"What do you want?"

Bella thought for a moment and smiled at him before slowly crossing the space between them and put his arm around her as she cuddled up to him. She pulled her feet on the sofa and nodded. "Is this okay for you?"

"Is this what you truly want?"

"Yes."

"No tricks?"

"No."

"Then this is more than okay for me, love," he smiled down at her and gently squeezed her arm. He could feel how she relaxed against him and how her breathing evened out. She was asleep within minutes, but that was alright. He felt so immensely proud of her for sharing a story and for her daring to do something that went against her training. She was speaking somewhat fluently with some pronunciation difficulties, but he was so proud of her.

Screw Cami, he thought. This girl is salvageable.

~o.O.o~

Bella followed him back to his study after breakfast the next day. He hadn't let her go all night and barely slept himself, but he didn't mind. She had been sleeping soundly without so much as having a nightmare or issues to deal with in her sleep. Kol and Rebekah had been discussing Buffy at the table, more specifically the curse that the vampire Angel had been under.

She had offered that the series was silly seeing as without the curse, Angel acted like Emmett and Edward, but with the curse, he was more like Elijah. Spike, however, unaffected by any curse, reminded her of the Mikaelsons. Spike didn't have to be the bad guy, but he choose to be and most importantly, he was someone of honor, something not even Angelus had.

He liked it that she could freely engage in a discussion without fearing that there would be a consequence. More importantly, she was heard, and not ignored. She didn't even flinch when Kol pelted her with pieces of toast because she knew that he wouldn't hurt her. She didn't dare to return the favor and start a food fight, but Kol was crazy enough to make her do it eventually.

"I should talk to you about a curse," Klaus said to Bella after closing the door of his study. "One that has been in my family until recently. Would you mind if I painted while doing so?"

"I like it when you paint," she replied as she made herself comfortable on the sofa.

"Really?"

Bella nodded. "It's peaceful. Makes me feel calm and quiets the voices in my head."

"You have voices in your head?" He blinked at her. "That's new."

"No," she giggled. "I'm not crazy. Just the things you told me that I didn't have to do trying to bubble to the surface… since you're not allowing me to punish myself…"

"No, you're not."

"And since I've managed to give my hole some attention over the last few days… Watching you paint works."

Klaus nearly spat out his sip of blood. "Your what?"

"Hole," she muttered, blinking at his reaction. "Where the shaft goes in? Down there?" she pointed at her crotch. "There's another one between the cushions where the rod can be inserted, but poop comes out of there too, quite unhygienic."

He didn't know whether to laugh or to feel sad for her. Or disgusted. "Bella… you're telling me that good old doctor Carlisle didn't even teach you the proper names for your genitals?"

"Breasts, hole, and cushions. And there's a pleasure spot…" she pointed to her jeans. "Right there. But I never felt that it only hurt so why it's called a pleasure spot, I don't know."

"And what's the male equivalence?" He was curious now. He was probably flying too close to the sun, but damn, his curiosity was peaked.

"Shaft, penis, lance, pole… ding dong?"

At least that sounded right enough, but he couldn't help but laugh and shake his head. "I don't think I'm the right person to teach you the right words, Bella, but hole and cushions? How about your pussy and your arse?"

"A pussy is a cat, and an ass is a donkey."

She was right about that. Groaning, he turned around and started to paint. "I will have to ask Rebekah to talk to you about this," he said with a small, amused smile on his face. It was sometimes easy to forget that no matter how much she'd been through in her life, that she still had a very innocent side of her. It kept him on his toes, but also out of his depth. "This is a conversation you should have with another woman."

"Why?"

"It's personal, something private. It would be wrong of me to meddle with that."

"Why?"

"It just is."

Bella huffed as she looked at his back and then watched his hand gently take a brush. She liked the way he held his brush. So tender, so kind. Whenever one of the Cullens would grab something it truly looked like something granite was grabbing an item but Klaus' hands were majestic. Beautiful. "Tell me about that curse, please."

"Of course," Klaus said thoughtfully. "I told you how my mother turned us all into immortals, didn't I? Through witchcraft?"

"Yes."

"What she hadn't anticipated that with the immortality spell, came the bloodlust. The need to drink blood to sustain ourselves. We didn't quite know what was happening to us; I remember being in the woods and I had fed upon villagers while there was a full moon, and I tore them to pieces, I changed. I wasn't simply an immortal; I was a werewolf as well."

"How does that work?"

He snorted. "As it turned out, my mother was unfaithful and fell pregnant by a werewolf. She never said anything, always hid it from my father. Until that day."

"What happened?"

"My father hated me even more, and my mother was so afraid that she used the blood of the girl Elijah had accidentally killed to bind my werewolf side with a curse. That blood was really special, as she was the first doppelganger and only the blood of a doppelganger would break the curse. Amongst some other sacrifices, but that was the rarest component."

"Rare blood? What's a doppelganger?"

Klaus explained it all, how it started with Tatia, then Katharina and Elena. How the curse was eventually broken and that he was no longer an immortal vampire, he was the first and original hybrid. His blood had magical properties, and as he was both vampire and werewolf, he could cure a vampire from the bite of a werewolf. Witches wanted his blood to do the bigger spells or to use it for binding spells.

Klaus was about to tell Bella about a witch ending up with his blood when she spoke. "Carlisle liked to experiment on me. When I was younger, I was often made sick, and he found a cure for it, he was the King, who could perform miracles. Carlisle was having dealings with regular vampires who could turn a human with just a bite, and he wanted to make my blood safe. I spent countless of hours in his laboratory, pleased that I could help him with his latest project."

"What did he do?"

"Oh, injecting me with various things or transfusions of some kind, I don't know. All I know is that he was pleased with me for being such a good girl, and after a few months, he handed me a vial of something that I had to drink. It was awful, but I did it. I was rewarded with my return to Edward and I overheard them saying something that I drank a vial that had a particular kind of blood in it with other ingredients to bind it. I didn't quite understand."

"I do," he said with a low growl. He had hoped that Bella wouldn't know about it, but she did. Of course she did, she was smarter and more observant than she had led on. "He tasked a witch to create a potion for you to drink to make your blood safe to his liking. He was afraid that the 'different vampires' would drain you and turn you into one of ours and take you away."

"Yes! Exactly!" Bella smiled at him. "And no matter how often they tried, they couldn't turn me. I have had to have many blood transfusions. They were also surprised I never died even when they drank from me. So that's why it's safe for you to drink, you see? Even if you aren't able to control yourself, I'll still be here." She got up and approached him at his easel. "It's okay to drink from me." She held up her wrist again.

"Oh, love, please don't," he sighed as he put his brush down and lowered her arm, gently. "I know the origin of that special blood, and if you've been paying attention to anything that I've said, you know too." She was so close to him, her scent stronger, making him long for her even more.

She thought for a moment and shrugged. "I don't care if it's yours. If anything, I should thank you for saving my life because if they hadn't used your blood, I would have been dead."

Klaus liked it how simple she seemed to make it, but it wasn't that simple. "What if that potion did more than just make your blood safe? Magic can be quite unpredictable."

"Like what?"

"I suppose we'll have to find that out together," he said with a smile. Of course he knew the answer, but he didn't want to scare her. She had to come to her conclusions about this, and until he wasn't sure if she could distinguish her feelings from what she had been taught, he was going to keep saying that.

And he was surely going to talk to Rebekah about teaching her some things about her body. He didn't want to hear the buzzing ever again.


	8. Shift

It was the middle of the night, a few days after they finished watching the final season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Bella had to admit it was a great show. She hadn't been able to get to sleep and got hungry. She hadn't eaten a lot of dinner because she was still convinced that she was gaining too much, but she was hungry.

Everyone would be asleep, so perhaps she could dare herself to go towards the noise and sneak into the kitchen to find something to eat. Something they wouldn't miss. Maybe a pastry or a sandwich. Maybe she shouldn't care so much about what she ate. Klaus and Kol kept telling her that she looked better, healthier, now that she had gained some weight. It wasn't as if she was back with the Cullens, back with her family of perfectionists, and she wouldn't ever be again.

And while she was still getting used to doing things on her own without getting in trouble, it still gave her an uneasy feeling when she did something she wasn't allowed to do before. Such as sneaking into the kitchen and get something to eat when she's supposed to be sleeping.

Bella tried to be as quiet as possible. The noise coming from further down the hall from the kitchen was a real distraction so her presence wouldn't be drawn attention to, but she was still sneaking around.

She found the light switch of the kitchen and made her way to the fridge and marveled at the food in there. There was so much food, and she couldn't choose what to pick. A slice of cake sounded great, but the cake was whole, still, and they would notice if she'd taken a slice of that. Then there was the cream pie or the cold chicken… Maybe she should just settle for a sandwich.

When she turned around to look for the bread, she bumped into someone who had been standing behind her, and she hadn't noticed. She also hadn't seen his face before, and she certainly didn't like the look on his face; as if she was his midnight snack in every sense of the word. The man licked his lips in appreciation and took a step forward, pushing her back into the fridge.

Her breath hitched, and her heart missed a few beats, showing fear towards another person was not what was expected of her, and she was angry with herself for almost giving into it. She repressed the urge to scream for Klaus or Kol. Elijah, even. They were sleeping, and they'd hate to be roused from their slumber. It was the entire reason she had been trying to be quiet. They would be so mad if she woke them up.

"I have to admit, little girl," the vampire purred once he had her cornered against the open fridge. She could feel how the cold of the machine cooled down the back of her body while the rest of it just heated up out of fear. When did she become afraid of people? Wasn't it was she did? Just letting it happen to her? "It takes some balls to break in and head straight for the fridge to eat. Very creative."

His breath smelled like alcohol and blood. He was a vampire. Did Klaus hold vampires in his basement? Why? Some experiment like she had been? "I-"

"Shhh," the vampire's eyes met hers and all of a sudden, everything was alright. Her fear had gone, and she didn't mind him biting her neck. She wouldn't scream because it didn't matter, it was alright. She tried to fight back a giggle because the sensation of those teeth on her neck and the sucking sensation tickled but didn't manage to do so.

Before she knew it, she was out of the kitchen and in the courtyard, sitting on a chair with Klaus looking her over with a worried look on his face. "He compelled her?"

"Yeah, I'm really sorry about that, Klaus… I told him the rules and… How was I supposed to know he'd get curious? Besides, I think we all would like to roam around the compound again at night."

Klaus huffed as he turned to his former ward. "This is supposed to be a haven for her, apparently, your vampires aren't listening to you." He angrily pointed at Dave, the vampire Marcel found with his teeth deep in Bella's neck. "If she wants to get herself something to eat, then she bloody well can get it without being attacked!"

"I was attacked?" Bella blinked at Klaus and rubbed her neck, finding dry blood on there, but the puncture wounds healed. "I'm all right, Klaus."

"Stop trying to keep her away from our vampires and things will be alright," Marcel shot at his sire. "She's been here for months. We've been cooped up for that same amount of time in the basement because you're afraid she'll scare of the noise they'll make in the courtyard. Time for her to get used to it."

"Marcellus…"

"Do you want them to riot, Klaus? I have some of my nightwalkers go out the minute the sun goes down, and they come back the minute before it goes up again, but that's not an option."

He shook his head as he pressed the heel of his hands to his eyes. "You don't understand. There is more to this than meets the eye..."

"What don't I understand? That she's a human who's been living with vampires all her life who treated her like shit, and you want to change that? Guess what, Klaus. Not everything was rainbows and roses while I grew up with a bunch of vampires either! I seem to recall a quite bloody performance of Hamlet, for one."

Klaus growled as he looked up at him. "I gave you every opportunity of humanity as well, an education..."

"Then do that to her as well, don't hide her away from the rest of us. Let her interact with more vampires who are willing to interact with her on a regular level. You certainly didn't keep me away from your army."

"Marcel..." He hesitated and shook his head again, glancing over Bella with sadness and longing. "Fine. I'll consider it. For now just keep them placated until I figure something out."

Marcel smirked and let out a whistle, to signal for his vampires to come out to show their faces. "See this girl here? She's off limits. Dave here needed a reminder of that."

"Don't," Klaus said with a growl as he gently took Bella's hand. "Come on, you don't wish to see this."

He sighed as he watched his boss leave with the human girl. "That girl is off limits for everything other than a chat, or face the consequences." He grabbed a stake out of his pocket and jammed it into Dave's chest. "However, tonight will be your night of freedom while the boss rethinks his options. Tomorrow, we'll be back in the basement. Enjoy your night off, gentlemen." Marcel smiled at them and watched them leave while Diego begrudgingly lifted Dave's body and went to take care of it.

"That was not what we agreed upon!" Klaus called out.

"Lighten up, Klaus!" Marcel countered.

Klaus retrieved a washcloth out of the bathroom and started to clean up Bella's neck. "Are you alright, love?"

"I'm all right." She met his eyes in the dim light of his study. "I was hungry, and I didn't want anyone to wake up. I went to the kitchen, and I don't know."

"You were bitten."

"I get that, why was that so wrong?"

"You are not a snack, love. He should not have done that to you."

Bella was quiet for a moment and let out a sigh. "I'm the only human here."

"Yes, you are, but that doesn't mean you're food."

"Okay," she gently took over the washcloth and continued to clean herself up while Klaus watched her. "Who was that man, though?"

"Marcel?"

"Yes."

"He is my lieutenant, my right hand," he said, slowly calming down from his anger. Her blood smelled good, he could understand why Dave had wanted a taste, but it had been wrong. "Come to think of it… he's a lot like you."

"He is?"

Klaus nodded as he sat down next to her and gently pushed her hair out of her face. "He was a slave, the bastard son of the governor and when I saw him getting beaten, I took him in as my ward. Elijah thought I was a fool for doing so," he said with a slight chuckle. "Marcel and I have had our differences, but I am proud of the man he's become."

"How old was he when you took him in?"

"About ten years of age."

"Did you turn him?"

"I didn't want to; he asked me to so I did. When he was about your age."

She put the cloth away and scooted over a little, putting her arms around Klaus. "It must have been great for him to have you look after him, teach him things."

"It was hard," Klaus replied with a scoff. "We all learned from the experience; some learned more than others. He still doesn't like Kol and Kol doesn't quite like him either, mostly because of the fact we used to pay more attention to Marcel than him. I had unboxed Kol because I hated it that Marcel liked Elijah more. Elijah has always been the kinder one of us. I shouldn't have been surprised that it happened."

"Jealousy?"

"I suppose so," he smiled at her. "Elijah has a habit of interfering with things that I do."

"Why didn't you box him instead of Kol? Kol is funny."

He had to laugh at her question and nodded with a big smile on his face. "So he is. However, Kol used to be a menace and Elijah… he always made sure that he'd be missed. He has ties to the community. Always. To keep an eye out for potential trouble or find a scheme to add to our wealth."

"He's the brains, Rebekah's the beauty… Kol's the funny one… what makes that you?"

"I don't know; you tell me."

"You're the Spike," she said with a grin. "Hot, broody and a man of your word."

"I'm not broody."

"Yes, you are."

"And how do you know I'm hot? It's not as if you have a lot of source material," he teased, pleased by how she seemed to be able to identify emotions and feelings correctly, such as his jealousy. He never in a million years expected her to call him 'hot,' though.

She shrugged as she made herself comfortable against him, putting her head against his chest after putting his arm around her. "I heard it's a matter of good taste. I believe I have good taste."

"And what do you base that on?"

She shrugged again. "By ignoring everything I was taught before coming here. It's not easy, though. I'm constantly battling myself."

"But that's a good thing," he murmured, reaching for the blanket on his sofa to cover her up. "In a way, every single person in the world is constantly at war with themselves, to make their decisions based on the situation they're in, or the feelings they are having."

Bella hummed a response as she snuggled even closer, putting a leg over his and made herself comfortable for the rest of the night. Klaus feared that now that she was doing better, not shaken at all by her recent experience but that was maybe because she couldn't remember the whole situation, she was going to up and leave.

He didn't want her to go. Even though with times like these, where she practically wrapped herself around him - in a non-sexual way, he had made sure of that when he compelled her -, making him feel somewhat uncomfortable, he wished she wouldn't. Klaus wasn't quite sure what would happen if she'd leave. He had managed to get to the other end of New Orleans the other day before rushing back home to her. To her scent. To bask in her nearness even though she was in her room doing god knows what.

He suspected she was feeling the pull towards him as well, why else would she like to sleep in his arms? Or did she simply feel safe with him? That was a good thing, but wasn't it because she thought he was everyone else's boss? Well, he was, but that wasn't the point. Oh, this was so confusing and frustrating at the same time.

Sighing, he shifted a little to make himself more comfortable on the sofa without disturbing Bella and tried to catch a few more hours of sleep himself.

~o.O.o~

 _She looked up to him, as he had wanted. It wasn't as if she could do anything else, nor did she want to, she wanted to please him, and this was exactly what pleased him. She was strapped in a chair, one of the King's chairs in his clean white room and every part of her body was accessible. Ready._

 _This wasn't right. But it was. He'd be so proud of her afterward, pleased, and she might get something to eat to keep her body functional. Peter had snuck in a cookie or two the day before, but she hadn't touched them. It wouldn't please Edward if she gained for this day._

 _It was an important day, Edward had told her, it was the celebration of something big for one of his other kind vampire friends, and he had promised her to that friend and hers. It would please him immensely if she behaved. But she always behaved. She was perfect, and she always wanted to be perfect._

" _I told you; I didn't want to see her eyes!" The vampire female whined as she looked at the naked girl in the chair. "You said you wanted to make things perfect, Edward. It's not perfect until her eyes are covered."_

" _Anything for you," he said in a pleasant voice and smirked. "What would you like to have this one's eyes covered with? Silk? Cotton? Jute?"_

" _Hmm…" Bella could feel the woman's finger run up and down her skin. It didn't do much to her; she wasn't allowed to feel. However, she could feel it, and it sent shivers down her spine. She was ready for whatever they were going to do with her; it would please Edward. She would have every male inside of her or feed from her, she would remain silent and passive. "Silk will do."_

" _Then I shall retrieve some silk for you, Katherine," Bella could see him smile and then leave the room. Her heart ached for him. Where was he going? Right, he was going to retrieve something to please Katherine. She looked at the vampire and found her staring back at her._

" _I should feel sorry for you," Katherine said as she ran her finger between the lips near Bella's hole. She wiggled a little; it felt warm and good, but the wiggling didn't register with Katherine, and she hoped that Edward wouldn't have seen it either, she wasn't allowed to feel. "But I don't. If they choose to treat you like this, I should respect that, but trust me when I say this, kiddo, not all vampires are evil. However, I'm as bad as they come, and if I were in their position, I would definitely get a human pet of my own because damn, the things I could do…" Bella saw her lick her fingers, and Katherine let out a moan. "You taste so good; I can't wait to sink my teeth in you and watch you get fucked senseless. Are you always this impassive?"_

" _That one's not allowed to speak, feel or make noise. It's the perfect warm body for everything I desire, or, when I feel like sharing, on a day like today, the perfect warm body for entertainment," Edward's voice sounded, sending chills down her spine. His voice sounded evil, cold, detached. He never loved her at all, did he? Her eyes were covered, and all she could do was listen. She wasn't supposed to hear, but she did._

" _Where can I get me one?"_

" _Oh, Katherine, that's adorable but that one is one of her kind, it's been with us since it was a couple months old. Proper training does wonders."_

" _Sorry for the questions, Edward. I very much appreciate this, I know the boys have had her before, but your father never showed her to me."_

" _I understand. He's not here right now."_

" _You rebel."_

 _Bella felt how her skin got pierced with fangs on several parts of her body; she knew she was tied up, but it felt as if she was being torn apart, and it hurt. It felt as if someone was taking a chunk out of her leg and ran a knife from her hole up to her belly. Something was burning, inside of her, she could smell it, feel it as her insides felt to be on fire. She was spinning, and she had nowhere to go._

 _She couldn't breathe, it was as if she was choking on something, and that was strange, as she knew the original encounter didn't involve all of this. Someone was pulling on her hair, it was almost if it was stuck in a machine, she could feel it being yanked from her scalp at the same time as her body was being ripped apart. There was nothing she could do about it but scream._

~o.O.o~

The following weeks, Bella came out of her shell, more and more. As it turned out, she had a great sense of humor and a lot of energy. She and Kol were usually running up and down the compound together in the morning, and Rebekah kept her busy by teaching her some self-defense. It was great to see Bella blossom into the young woman she had been denied to be.

She still didn't want anything, or at least ask for anything, insisting that she didn't need anything, but she was getting there. Now and then, she dared to voice her own opinion as well, usually about small things, such as not being allowed to do anything such as cleaning her room or cook them a meal. They had servants for that, paid servants, so why would she have to lift a finger?

Whenever the other vampires were out and about in the compound - yes, Klaus had reluctantly agreed to it that it wasn't fair to them to keep them hidden away - Bella tried her best to avoid them. She could usually be found in her room or with Klaus. Even when he had to interact with Marcel in the middle of the compound, she was at his side, worried that something might happen to him. She wasn't actively there, just quietly at his side, non-intrusive and no one was batting an eye at her.

She knew self-defense now, she could help Klaus to defend himself.

He found that enticing.

Yes, Klaus realized how this girl, this broken, beautiful and delectable young woman, had him wrapped around her little finger the moment she set foot in his home. Granted, some magic may have had a hand in it, but he had never fallen this hard before. It was hard to stop himself from obsessively buying her things, from making her meaningful promises, from taking bigger steps than she could handle - from kissing her.

He had made the mistake in the past, but he had to watch himself around her, think before he acted. Klaus didn't want to scare her off, it was important that he made a good impression, a lasting one, he wanted her to stick around.

Of course, there was always the chance that she would decide to leave and live a human, supernatural free life, but it's all she had known. And on top of that, Marcel stuck around, why wouldn't she?

While he had wanted Marcel to stay away from her - quite possibly because he was jealous - Elijah had persuaded him to see the other side of Marcel reaching out to her; his story was similar to hers. Marcel could be a positive influence to Bella, give his side of the story about the family that Marcel was a part of.

At first, Bella was wary of him, cautious, and only wanted to talk to Marcel with either Kol or Klaus nearby. She also realized that Marcel had been the one to have saved her from the vampire that was trying to suck her dry, but the whole ordeal had been a bit hazy. And since when was it saving? Klaus was delighted that she had gained insight into her life with the Cullens and how she should have been treated; like a fragile human being with her own will and wants.

He had been wondering for a couple of days now if he could reverse the compulsion he had put her under. Surely she knew now that offering her body, her services, wasn't proper behavior? On the one hand, he wasn't quite sure but on the contrary, he wanted to see if it freed her some more when it came to her feelings if she'd address them better.

Would he dare to have Elijah remove his compulsion on her? That she could trust them and that she had nothing to fear? He often wondered if he had truly compelled her because she had shown distrust in each and every one of them over the course of the last few months.

"I didn't know your floor needed a paint job," Bella's voice sounded from behind him. Damn her, she had become even more stealthy in her movement than before.

Klaus looked over his shoulder to smile at her before looking down at the paint dripping from his brush. "So it seems." He grabbed a cloth and removed the paint from the floor before turning back to her again. "What can I do for you, Bella?"

"You allow Rebekah to leave through the gates, right?" She asked as she sat down on the sofa, turning so she could look at him. "And your female vampires do the same."

"Of course."

"What about Cami?"

"She lives nearby and has a bar to tend to."

"But what about the monsters outside? Hiding behind every bush or even in the gutter? What about the air? How do they survive that?"

Klaus put his brush down and sat down next to her, sighing slightly. "Haven't you figured out by now that maybe, you've been lied to all your life?"

"So the outside isn't going to kill me?"

"Well, not instantly, I suppose," he said with a smirk. "Out there, there are people, like yourself. Tourists, people who live in New Orleans. Witches. The city never sleeps, and there's always a party somewhere."

"So it's safe?"

"Of course. Granted, there are some bad seeds out there, but Rebekah has been teaching you some self-defense, hasn't she?"

Bella thought for a moment and nodded before shaking her head. "I don't want to leave this building. I don't need to see outside."

"Are you sure? There's a lot to see out there."

"I'm sure."

"May I inquire as what brought you to this line of thought? I've not heard you talk about the outside of this building before," he asked curiously.

She shrugged for an answer. "I guess I see people come and go all the time, wondering how it's possible that they're alright upon their return."

"If you want, we can go outside together?"

"I'm not ready for that, Klaus."

"Then what are you ready for?"

Shrugging, she crawled towards him and put his arm around her as she settled against him. "Just sitting here with you."


	9. Blast from the Past

"She seems to be doing great," Cami remarked as she and Klaus watched Rebekah instruct Bella to defend herself against Kol. More often than not, she had him on the floor within seconds. Of course, he wasn't using his vampire abilities, but Cami was surprised that he didn't mind getting his ass kicked by a tiny girl.

"She's doing brilliantly," Klaus agreed as he leaned against the balustrade and narrowed his eyes on his brother when he made Bella trip and fall on the mat. "When my brother isn't trying to kill her."

"Relax, she's doing fine," she gently pat Klaus on his arm. "Did you remove the compulsion yet?"

"Which one? The one where she knows we're not going to hurt her or the one that's stopped her from having sex with my leg?"

"She humped your leg?" Cami laughed. "Aren't you supposed to hump hers?"

Klaus looked at her with a murderous one on his face.

"Hey, just saying. You kicked that door open, you should have expected that answer," she said defensively, putting her hands up. "But yes, I meant that one."

"I removed it about a week ago," Klaus quickly replied.

"And?"

"And, nothing."

"Give me something to work with, Klaus. Did she revert back to before?"

"No, she hasn't changed since I removed it," he replied, gripping the balustrade as Kol yet again had Bella on the floor. "Perhaps she's taken the physical activity with my siblings a little bit further, but other than that, she seems to be doing alright."

"Is she still keeping you up at night?"

He let out a soft growl. "Let's just say that she's exhibiting normal behavior for a human."

"I agree," Cami smiled at him. "Congratulations, she seems to be functioning as a normal human being."

"Who's afraid of the outside."

She hummed as a response before actually responding. "Convenient for you? At least she won't leave on her own volition."

"She's not ready, Cami. She said so herself. And even if she does end up liking what's out there and decides to leave, I suppose that will be alright."

"Will it?"

Klaus sighed and shook his head. "It's a shame my temper got the best of me when I confronted the witch, Becky. She had supplied the Cullens with a potion to make her blood _safe_ from other vampires and turning. I wish I had taken more time in getting more information. Such as, what else did she do to that potion? Why do I feel the need to protect her with all I have? Why do I feel so lost when I'm not near her?" He let go of the balustrade in case he'd rip it apart in his aggravation. "I'm not complaining. She's delightful, but I have things to do, and when I'm out, I'm easily distracted and feel the need to go back."

"Are you sure it's not just love or lust?"

"I am fairly sure Camille because it started the moment Kol brought her in in her unconscious form," he shot at her. "I should not have killed that witch and Marcel has asked Davina to look into it, but I haven't heard anything back."

"How is she with you?"

"She often seeks me out and then we sit on the sofa together for hours. Or she watches me paint," he said with a soft smile. "On occasion, she follows me around while I go and talk to Marcel or watch him with his vampires."

"You should do something different with her. Have a romantic dinner. Or a picnic on the roof. Something fun. Just you and her."

"Are you suggesting I take her on a date? Are you mad?" He blinked at her. "What are we supposed to do on a date?"

"Talk?"

"Camille," he shook his head laughing. "We talk every night, almost."

"Make it something special, come on, she'll like that."

He looked over the balustrade and saw his siblings trying hard not to burst out in laughter. He let out a growl and looked back at her.

"Tell her she's beautiful. How gorgeous she looks, even if it's just her sweatpants and a shirt," Cami shrugged. "I don't know, give her compliments." She then grinned widely. "Give her some alcohol."

"No."

"Oh come on, you know how to woo girls, don't you?" Cami said teasingly. "Or did you forget in your old age? Give her the real deal, I mean, she's probably never experienced it before!"

He was just about to say something in his fury when he picked up the scent of one of those toy wolves from Washington. This could only mean one thing; the wolf he had hired had found his home and Klaus was going to grill him for answers about Bella. How did the wolf find them anyway?

"Ah! Found you!" Jacob's voice sounded. "You're a hard girl to find!"

Bella froze into place as she heard Jacob's voice. She had her back turned to him, and wasn't going to turn back. That part was over. She didn't have to deal with this anymore, not again. Or did she? She had never told Kol or Klaus about Jacob because he was their friend. Or at least Klaus' as he had put him in the position with the Cullens, probably well paid too. She couldn't make herself look bad for Klaus.

"Who are you?" Rebekah asked as he looked at the young man. He appeared to be some type of hippie, his long hair tied casually with a hair tie and arms the size of a planet. "You're Klaus' wolf."

"I am. Jacob Black, nice to meet you."

She took a deep breath and looked up to see Klaus look down at them from the balcony, his eyes firmly set on Jacob. He looked like as if he was thinking to come downstairs or stay up there with Cami. No doubt they had been talking about her. They always did. And despite they all encouraged Bella to be herself, learn about herself and learn how to think for herself, they had let Jacob in their home. Only because they didn't know. But if she told, she was afraid that they'd hurt him.

"Good to see you again, mate," Kol greeted him. "Where have you been?"

"My dad - the tribe - wanted to make sure I was alright," Jacob explained with half a shrug. "I'm a grown man; I can do whatever I want. I wanted to see how she was doing."

What would Buffy do in a situation like this? Or Faith - Willow, even? They'd tell him to go away. That's what. Bella was angry he had come by, no doubt with the best intentions, but he should have known better. She'd turn around and tell him to leave. Yes. Easy like that. But she was afraid that if she'd turn around, she'd be on her knees in an instant, and everyone would put one and one together and be on top of him within a blink. Even Klaus.

She kept looking up to Klaus, willing him to look at her, to see that it wasn't quite alright with Jacob here, but she had to use her voice, and right now, she couldn't. When she felt arms around her, she startled and looked behind her, relieved it being Rebekah.

"Come, let's get you out of here. Breathe," she crooned and started to push her towards the stairs. "Nik, something's not right," she muttered to her brother as she continued to maneuver Bella up the stairs.

Bella took a deep breath, unaware she had stopped breathing and allowed Rebekah to take her away. But it was a sign of weakness, wasn't it? To allow herself to be taken away. At least she now knew it hadn't been anyone's idea to ask Jacob over. "I'm fine," she managed to bring out, her voice soft.

"Poppycock," Rebekah replied as she lead Bella into Klaus' study. "Would you like to talk about it?"

Bella shook her head as she breathed in Klaus' scent despite him not being in the room. She moved to her favorite spot on the sofa and pulled her feet on the couch, looking at Rebekah. "I'm sorry."

"You just sit here, alright, love? I'm going to check and see what my brothers are up to. Would you like us to kill Jacob?"

"No!" Bella said shocked. "No!"

"I take that as a 'maybe'. If you're not talking, he will."

Sighing, she nodded and watched Rebekah leave the room.

Rebekah was glad her brothers had their conniving asshat hats on and were pleasantly talking with Jacob over a cup of tea one of the servants quickly had set down on the table. Fortunately, they had moved Jacob into one of the rooms, out of earshot of everyone on the street. When Rebekah's entrance was noticed by Klaus, he turned to Jacob with a smirk. "That's my sister Rebekah."

"Hi," Jacob greeted her.

"Hello," she replied politely, closing the French doors and stood there so whatever happened, he couldn't escape.

"So, now that pleasantries are out of the way," Klaus said, looking at the man as he took a sip of his tea. "My brother didn't want to say much about life at the Cullens, could you enlighten us some more?"

"Sure, why not?" Jacob smiled, looking at Kol. "I can't believe you didn't want to tell them things."

"Certain things should remain unsaid, but by all means, answer all my brother's questions so I won't have to."

"What do you want to know, Klaus?"

Klaus seemed to think for a moment, but Kol and Rebekah both knew he already had his questions ready. He was going to lull the wolf into a false sense of security and strike. "How many humans were there in the main building?"

"Apart from Bella? Ah.. uhm… a handful. They were part of the Royal Guard, spent most of their time in the basement or out front. Mostly big, burly criminals, though."

"But none in Bella's position?"

"Hell no," Jacob huffed. "Who would want to be in her position anyway?"

Klaus cocked his head. "You make it sound as if she volunteered."

"Well, I don't know the specifics. She was already there when I came," Jacob explained. "All I know is that she belonged to Edward. She doesn't speak, you see. Besides, I was too busy to keep an eye on Carlisle, like you asked."

"What was your position?"

"I was a part of the Royal Guard."

All three Originals couldn't hide their scowls when he said that. Rebekah realized that it was the reason Bella shut down. "Nik…"

"I've got this, sister," he said gently before looking at Jacob again. "You were there for six years, and you saw a human girl being used and abused. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because that weren't your instructions, besides, she was fine."

"How many times was she brought to the Royal Guard by Edward?"

"A few times a week."

"For how long?"

"A couple of hours, there were a lot of guys she had to entertain, why are you asking me all this?"

"Did you ever participate?"

"Hell yeah!" Jacob responded with a broad smile on his face. "As you know, she's very talented, and I had to because you know, they'd have found out I wasn't one of them."

"As we know?" Klaus fumed - his self-restraint faltering.

Jacob snorted and looked at Kol. "She was your present; you're saying you're not even using her?"

"She wasn't my present, mate," Kol spat, taking a few steps towards his sister because he wanted to rip out Jacob's heart, but wanted it to be Klaus to do so. "I've been nothing more but her friend for the last year."

"It's your loss," he shrugged. "Anyway, I came to see her, can I?"

"No," Klaus growled as he pulled Jacob off the sofa and dragged him off to the basement, locking him in one of the holding cells. He was going to kill him later. Slowly. Peel off his skin. Plenty of time to do so. There was more information to be learned from the idiot. Why had he sent Jacob in anyway? Couldn't he have sent in a more competent asshole?

Klaus punched the wall and walked back into the cell. He threw Jacob against the nearest wall and without warning ripped out his heart. "You should have known better, pup."

"I applaud your self-restraint, brother," Kol quipped from behind him.

"Shut up," Klaus muttered as he ripped off one of Jacob's arm and pointed it at Kol. "You should have told me."

"Why? What would that have fixed? Absolutely nothing! As I told you, some things aren't my story to tell. This was his story to tell. And Bella's, but she wisely shuts up about it, trying to ignore it from ever have happened."

"You should have told me!" Klaus roared at his brother before chucking the arm at his head. "This wolf came here to see if he could have another round with her! If you had told me, I would have hunted him down and killed him before she ever had to see him again!"

"Fine, you want me to tell how the entire Royal Guard had their way with Bella? How their dicks filled up every hole of her body? How she often had three guys on her? How Edward threw her in the basement for them to enjoy her and that your friend Jacob was one of them and often the first to have his way with her?" Kol blurted at his brother. "How sometimes Edward even came down to watch? Carlisle, even? That your friend Jacob was a dimwitted asshole and you should have made a better choice? And if it wasn't sex they were having, that they had to hurt her with whips because she spilled something or she had gained a pound? That a lot more happened in the six months that I was in?"

Kol grabbed the arm and threw it back at his brother. "Seriously, Klaus, does it make you feel better now that you know? Or does it make you feel sick as I'm feeling right now?"

Klaus was quiet for a moment as he let his brother's words sink in. "You're just saying that."

"Oh, I wish!" Kol breezed as he let out his frustration on Jacob's dead body by tearing off a leg and breaking it for emphasis. "Oh, I so wish, Niklaus. I've seen a lot of horrors in my days, most of the time of my own creation that I really don't mind talking about. But this? When I said it wasn't my story to tell, I meant it."

"I'm going to hunt them all down," he said with a low growl. "You'd better be comfortable with giving me names."

"Right now you're going to clean yourself up," Rebekah said as she walked into the cell and blinked at the maimed body of Jacob. "That's all you can do? You're losing your touch," she said, looking at Klaus. "However, as I said, you're going to clean yourself up, calm down and take care of this frightened ball of tension sitting in your study."

He rushed upstairs, not bothering to clean up and blinked as he saw Bella half undressed and on her knees on the floor. He swallowed hard; she was so beautiful. Shaking his urges out of his head - he was so worked up, he wanted to bury himself deep inside of her to make sure she'd stay with him, to be sure she'd stay. With him. He wanted to, but if he'd do it now, he would be no better than the people she was rescued from. It was her move. And she was frightened.

Klaus got out of his shirt and quickly cleaned up his hands and retrieved a robe he could wrap Bella in. "Come, love," he placated her, helping her up from the floor and putting the robe around her before helping her sit down on the sofa. "Are you alright?"

"I'm all right," she murmured as she hugged the robe tightly and looked at him with tears in her eyes. Actual tears. Klaus was surprised to see tears as she hadn't cried before. Ever. The date of her last time cried Cami had found in the journal was engraved in his mind.

"Sure you are," he smiled at her, gently drying her tears with a cloth he pulled out of his pocket. She was even beautiful when she was crying. "What's all this then?"

"I'm fine," she repeated as she looked at him, and he felt his heart shatter. "It's okay."

"What's okay?"

"If you want to return me."

"Now why would I wish to do that? Aren't you happy here? Don't you like us anymore?"

"I do!" She nearly crawled into his lap at that. "I do, I do! I don't want you to return me! But Jacob…"

"You no longer have to worry about him, love," he said kindly and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "If you don't want to leave, you're not going anywhere, and I will do my absolute best to ensure they're not coming back to steal you away from me."

"You want to keep me?" She asked hopeful, her big eyes looking up at him, filled with hope.

He smiled at her and nodded. "I would like very much to keep you and more, dear, but one thing at a time. I promise you, you're not leaving until you decide you want to leave."

"But I like you and Kol and Rebekah and even Elijah. I don't want to leave."

"Then don't," he put his arm around her and pulled her against him, in the same manner they've been sitting for hours on end together, he knew it made her feel safe. "You're safe with me. You'll always be safe with me, that's a promise."


	10. Red Alert

It was a couple of days after Jacob's surprise visit - which had a surprising ending for the young man - and Bella was back to her usual self. For days, Klaus and his siblings reminded Bella how her presence in the compound had changed things for the better, to make sure that she felt wanted. They had all mellowed out somewhat and enjoyed spending time with her.

Bella spent even more time with Klaus now, simply content watching him do whatever or look out the windows, observing people. She had given up on Rebekah's self-defense lessons, mainly because it was of no use when Bella begun to freeze up in the face of adversity. To her, it was a let down that she hadn't been able to respond correctly with Jacob there, even though she wanted to kick him in the shins. She was honest about wishing to shove a hot poker up his butt but admitted that she was not like that and didn't want to see him that hurt.

However, Klaus was confident she'd continue with Rebekah sooner or later; it was just a small bump in the road. On top of that, Bella seemed to thoroughly enjoy herself whenever she and his sister sparred.

With reluctance, Klaus agreed to hold a party at the compound, mostly because Marcel insisted on it for morale. He was worried what Bella would do when there'd be loud music and a lot of drunk vampires. He certainly was not going to allow her to mingle by herself. Maybe not even mingling, who knew who would attend? Or maybe just a little, until she had enough of it.

Rebekah took the idea and ran with it; she had someone bring over a bunch of dresses in her, and Bella's size and they were currently in Rebekah's room, going over them. Klaus could feel Bella's uneasiness all the way in his study, but he had promised his sister that he wouldn't come and run the girl to safety. She wanted her in a dress. Period.

Klaus made her promise, though, that it wouldn't be anything formal, just something that would fit the scene, despite knowing that Bella probably would be reluctant to attend. If his sister wanted Bella in a dress, who was he to complain? Of course, he took the chance to overhear the conversation between them.

"What do you think, Bella? Does this look good on me?" Rebekah said as she pointed at the girl who was wearing a beautiful dress. Simple, elegant and very red.

"I don't know, why won't you put it on and see if it does?"

"What's the fun in that?" Rebekah let out a laugh. "No to the red?"

"I don't know," Bella sighed as she ran her hand through her hair. "It's not as if I have a good taste in clothes."

"You don't know that," she replied kindly. "The clothes you're currently wearing were provided by us, but what if you had the choice, freely, what would you wear?"

"I don't know."

"Then we're going to find that out next week," Rebekah grinned. "I can't wait to see what you'd pick out. Now, back to me. The red dress. Do you think it'll fit?"

"Probably… are you trying to impress someone? Isn't it a bit too revealing?"

"Oh, absolutely. In fact, all the dresses I got are a little bit too revealing, still classy but revealing. I want to hook up with someone."

"Does that truly mean to have sex with someone?"

"Of course it does," Rebekah grinned. "Haven't you been paying attention to the shows we've been watching?"

"Yeah, but you also said not to believe it because it's a fictional representation of the real world."

"Exactly. Stories. A little bit exaggerated, but there's a hint of truth in there. Kol and I told you this."

"I know, but…"

"Okay, not the red dress. What about the black one?"

Bella let out a groan. "I don't know, what do you normally wear to parties?"

"I want you to pick. What about the blue one?"

"Green. You haven't picked out a green dress," Bella pointed out. "I think the red dress but then in green would be great."

Rebekah was quiet for a moment as she considered Bella's words. "Sorry, no. The red dress will be what I'll be wearing. I don't like green. Besides, it makes me look like a ghost."

"I wouldn't know, I haven't seen you wear green yet," Bella smiled at her as she curled her legs underneath her on the sofa.

"Oh, don't you get comfortable, young lady," Rebekah said, pulling Bella off the couch after dismissing the girls and calling in the next lot. "Now we're going to find you a dress."

"What's wrong with my own clothes?"

"Nothing, but not suitable for a party," she smiled at her. "Especially one that's being hosted by the Mikaelsons."

"I thought Marcel was organising it."

"He's practically family, it doesn't count, it's still our party, and I love parties. Loads of boys to flirt with… dance with…" Rebekah practically swooned. "I know you've led a very different life, Bella, but have you ever fancied someone?"

"I like Klaus?"

"In what way?" She walked over to the bar and poured herself a drink. Seeing as more often than not Bella was everywhere, they had also put something non-alcoholic on the bar so she could drink with them, not quite liking the taste of alcohol as yet. "If you imagine a future with someone, would that be him?"

"Klaus is kind and fair, and he's very patient," Bella said as she dropped herself back on the sofa. "Whenever he paints, you can see how gentle his hands are, elegant hands. I've seen him shirtless a few times as I seem to have a habit of walking into his study at the wrong time and he's simply beautiful."

"You mean handsome."

"It's the same."

"Have you ever been in love? The butterflies, the skipping of the heart… the taking away of breath?" When she saw Bella blush, she smiled widely. "Have you told Klaus how you feel?"

"No," Bella felt her cheeks redden even more. "I'm afraid he'll think that I think that's what I'm supposed to do… but I don't. I was never allowed to feel, and I didn't but now, I mean… he makes it so easy. I can crawl into his arms, and he makes me feel safe. I don't have to worry about anything and…"

"And what about sex? Do you see yourself doing that with him too?"

"I don't know… this is all new to me, and I know that I was bad before with trying to get him to have sex with me, and that was so wrong, but I didn't know any better. Now that I do… I don't know. What if he thinks that it shouldn't happen because of what happened to me? Or that he thinks that I'm not… you know, feeling it? And I'm afraid that I won't feel anything because it was so normal to me…"

"You should talk to Klaus about how you feel, I'm sure he'll listen."

"He's been so patient with me, Rebekah. He's so sweet and what if I ruin it by talking to him about my feelings? What if he goes off on his word and send me back?"

"I doubt it, Bella," she sat down next to her with a smile on her face. "Nik rarely makes mistakes, and he recently discovered that he had made a mistake by paying Jacob to keep an eye on things in that godawful place. Nik thought he could trust him, but he learned that he had misplaced his trust in him and rectified it immediately after getting a little more information out of him. Safe to say, Nik was appalled with Jacob's behaviour towards you."

"What did he do?"

"Nik defended your honor, of course, and this is something quite astonishing, mostly because he considered Jacob to be a valuable ally. Even when people betray Nik, they usually get another chance to prove themselves, but he didn't leave room for that this time. Trust me, Nik won't let you go without a fight, but the thing is, the bloody idiot is too scared to go further than admitting his feelings for you towards us. Not even you! He doesn't even dare to kiss you, afraid that he'll hurt you himself!"

"Huh?"

"Talk to him, Bella, and snog him afterwards. He won't make the first move, show him you're no longer a puppet. It's okay to be scared every once in awhile, but you're not letting anyone control you anymore, and that's truly something. Show him that. Don't be afraid he'll reject you because I wager he won't."

Bella nodded, feeling inspired by Rebekah's speech. "What do I do?"

"First, you're going to pick out a dress," Rebekah grinned before calling in the girls who were close to Bella's size, wearing a broad range of dresses.

Bella was glad that her clothes seemed to be more modest, and not as revealing as Rebekah's. She liked the Bordeaux-red colored one, but when she saw the last dress, she immediately fell in love. It was white, but it was almost as if there were paint splashes all over it, and it looked as beautiful as one of Klaus' paintings. "But I don't have anything to pay for it!"

"Don't worry about that, Bella. Anything you want, it's yours."

"That one then."

"Are you sure? You don't want to go for something in one color?"

"I'm sure, I love it!" Bella was nearly bouncing on the sofa as she kept looking at the girl wearing the dress. "Please, Rebekah? You told me to find something I like, and I really like that one."

"It's a bit unusual…"

"Rebekah!" Bella threw a pillow at her head.

"I'm just joshing you," she smirked. "Of course you can have that one. I'm sure Nik will love it."

She practically beamed when she looked at Rebekah. "Can I wear it now?"

"The party isn't until tonight," Rebekah was delighted with the girl's apparent happiness with the dress. In all honesty, Rebekah had bought it as a joke, but then again, maybe Bella liked things a bit more coloured than one single colour. She was going to kill it in the dress and Klaus was going to drool. She knew it.

After choosing her dress, Bella retreated to her room to prepare. She no longer held herself to her cleaning regimen that she had been taught by her family, she found it was taking too long, it was painful and with a simple washing of the skin she'd be squeaky clean as well. However, since this party was seemingly a big deal to Rebekah and Klaus, maybe it was better to go through it all to make sure she was at her best. This was a choice. Not a rule.

She turned the faucet in her bathroom and noticed it wasn't opening up to the hottest setting anymore. She hadn't used it in a while, but it seemed like they had 'Bella proofed' the bathroom. Sighing, she was going to draw herself a bath and soak in the water for a good thirty minutes before she'd do anything else, like shaving or whatever.

Even her razor now had the word 'sharp!' written on the handle, almost as if she needed to be reminded that it was, indeed, sharp. She smiled at that. Tiny things like that made her life so much easier and happier as if she wasn't a stupid, bungling girl trying to live a life that had been taken from her. Then again, she didn't quite know what an ordinary human life was like. Was it that much different than being surrounded by vampires and werewolves?

She didn't want to find out. She loved her new family. All of them, but mostly Klaus. She hadn't told Rebekah, but she often fantasized what it would feel like if Klaus would use his hands on her body. If he'd touch her like she had seen people getting touched on television. Gentle. Loving. None of the shit she'd been through.

Was she angry with what she had been put through by the Cullens? Not really. It was still a sore experience to talk about - so she wouldn't - but it had been all she had known. Now that she knew that there was a better way to live, she never wanted to go back. She was aware, now, that she mattered. She, as a person and not as a thing. A commodity.

Granted, she was still the biggest chicken ever and would probably not last the entire party even if she was at Klaus' side, but the party mattered to him, to his family. So it mattered to her. And she was going to do her best to look and feel presentable.

As Kol had told her a couple of weeks ago; she was a majestic unicorn, she was a badass, and she could deal with everything coming her way.

Unless it were faces from her past.

Oh God, she thought. What if Edward would choose to show his face? Or Esme? Or Carlisle? They always liked parties. They hosted quite a few in their day, and if they were looking for her, certainly the party would be something they'd go to.

Bella blankly stared into her bathwater before realizing that she should go to Klaus and tell him about her worry. Now. She grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her as she left the bathroom and headed out her room, almost running towards his study. He needed to know. He needed to know so bad.

Not bothering to knock, she swung the door open and almost ran inside. She only stopped in her tracks as she saw that Klaus wasn't alone. Marcel was there too.

"Woah!" Marcel cried out and tried to look anywhere but at the dripping wet girl wrapped in a towel. Barely wrapped in a towel. "Jeez, Klaus! I thought you said Elijah got her to stay dressed decently!"

"He did! I did!" Klaus said as he looked at her in shock. "What are you doing, Love?" He asked playfully, trying to push through his shock.

"I need…" she took a deep breath as she tried to hold herself together. Oh, she knew she was bad right now. She hadn't put on any clothes, but he had to know. "You need… I…" she grew frustrated as the words didn't want to leave her mouth.

Marcel raised an eyebrow as he listened to her heart racing and erratic breathing. "The girl is damn near a panic attack, Klaus… I'll step out while you calm your girl down," he said as he gave her a wide berth, not daring to upset the hybrid any more than necessary considering what they had already been discussing. Closing the study doors, he left the two alone.

The moment Marcel left, she ran up to Klaus and put her arms around him, causing her to drop the towel and held on to him tightly. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…" she said slightly panicked, she was going to be in so much trouble.

Klaus took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling as he rubbed his eyes, thinking about what he had to do over the course of the day. That didn't quite work with the waning control over his dick. "Bella, you're naked."

"I know, and I'm sorry," she shivered against him. "We need to talk. It's… very important and… You need to know and…"

"Calm down," he said as he dared himself to caress her bare back, gently pressing her closer, so he didn't have to look

\- but bloody hell, she felt good against him. "It's alright," he said as he manoeuvred them to the sofa, kicking up the towel as he did but was unable to catch it. Silently cursing, he realised that there was a blanket on the couch for Bella when she came over. He grabbed that instead and carefully wrapped her up, not trying to look at her and instead thought about seeing Kol tear apart one of his victims. Nope, that didn't help either, Klaus wanted to join in on the fun.

She crawled against him as he'd wrapped her in the blanket and took a few moments to collect herself. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright Love. Now tell me what has you so upset that cannot wait until after tonight's party," he asked of her as he made sure she was properly covered up before daring to look her in the eye.

"Jacob found me, with limited resources," she said slowly. "And he also gave me to your brother. He knew where to find me. Here. With you."

"He's been dealt with, love," he said, assuring her.

"You're hosting a party, no doubt you've extended an invitation to the rest of the supernatural community?"

"Of course," he answered slowly, his eyes narrowing as he attempted to see where she was leading with her questions. Somehow, he found he wasn't going to like her thoughts.

"I watched the news, Klaus. I know they've escaped. What if they show up here? To get me? I don't want to leave, and I don't want you to get hurt either."

Klaus gently smiled as he reached to cup her chin in his hand. "One thing you need to learn is that there is almost nothing that can genuinely harm me. That being said, if any of the Cullens were to decide to show up, just like Jacob, and attempt to take you from me - they would be in for the surprise of their miserable lives. I've plenty of vampires at my whim to assure that you won't leave my side."

Bella thought for a moment and nodded. Of course, he had a plan at hand. Of course. Why was she worried? Why was she freaking out about it? "Could you save Rosalie, though?" She asked with a small voice. "Mom… she wasn't so bad."

"Rosalie?" he questioned, confused as he leaned back slightly, his fingers drifting to her damp hair.

"My mom. She didn't want Carlisle to do the things he did to me. Like… when I started to get my bleeds, she wanted to stop him from making me like them and like the other human women, but he didn't listen. We secretly talked, while I wasn't supposed to, when I was little."

Klaus growled with displeasure but did not immediately refuse her request. "I would prefer all Cullens eradicated Bella… What they've done to you..."

"I don't want her here, but she's no threat. She just wanted me to have a normal life," she smiled at him and caressed his cheek. "I know, it's bad. But Rosalie was a prisoner. Just like Alice and Jasper and if you don't believe me, you can read my mind. Or Rosalie's, even, if she shows up."

He looked into her eyes and after a moment released a reluctant sigh. "If her memories match what you tell me then I will grant her amnesty. I don't need to delve into yours, Love. I know you honestly believe what you do," he murmured as he turned his face into her hand a fraction, seeking her contact but realizing his actions blinked and pulled back. "You should be preparing for tonight. It will be an eventful evening."

If there was one thing she was good at, it was observing. She always watched how people were responding to her, even when she was still at the Cullens, it made her life a safe one if she could anticipate what was coming. She felt stupid for not having realized it before, that what Rebekah had told her earlier was true. Klaus felt for her. Not just because she was brought to him, but because there was more and he wouldn't make the first move.

Would she dare to do it instead?

Shifting a little so that she could get off the sofa with ease, she moved her face closer to his, seeing the fear grow in his eyes. She allowed her lips to briefly brush his before she kissed him and got off the sofa to return to her room. "Thank you," she smiled at him before hugging the blanket around her and walking out.

Klaus swallowed hard as he watched her walk out, slightly confused as what had just happened. Bella had kissed him and such a glorious kiss it was! Why didn't she stay for more, though? He was more than willing to give her more. Hell, even his dick was fully awake now and wanted more.

He almost thought she came back into the room, but his hope shattered when Marcel walked back in with the biggest smile on his face. "Well, who ever thought they'd see the day Klaus Mikaelson would be all flustered because of a girl?"

"Shut up, Marcellus," Klaus snapped at him. "Thank you for ruining the moment."

"You're welcome," Marcel grinned. "She is afraid of the same thing we suspected. I'll have vampires on the lookout, but since we don't know who's who…"

"Bring them in regardless. Show them to our guest room and hold them there."

"Awesome."


	11. Unexpected Clarity

**A/N:** **I'm sitting on a few chapters at the moment so here's another one for you. I feel bad for hoarding them. (No, I don't).**

 **~o.O.o~**

"Welcome! You know the rules, everyone leaves alive. We have an excellent vintage of live blood for the vampires. They're a bunch of Mormon virgins to sink your teeth into, courtesy of one of our generous hosts. Don't kill them, don't devirginize them, however tempting it may be. There's plenty of food, good music, great booze, enjoy yourselves! Our generous host wants to have a few words as well, so listen up!"

"There is one human girl in here who hasn't been compelled, and she is off limits to all," Klaus spoke forcefully and evenly. "She's mine. Lay a hand on her and it'll be the last action you've done."

Marcel blinked at Klaus and shook his head. "Have fun, everyone!" He laughed before turning to his sire. "What the hell was that?"

"She's mine. I just had to make it clear."

"By spoiling the mood?"

"I didn't ruin anything, Marcellus," he said with a small smile and nodded towards the crowd below them. "They're not shaking in their boots."

"No, but they will be shaking their booties," Marcel grinned and jumped down the balcony to join the rest of the party goers.

"Great party, brother," Kol smirked as he joined his brother in looking at the revelers below. "So I had a thought, yeah? If those asshats decide to show up, and you want to contain them… you're going to need a witch."

Klaus looked at his brother and only then noticed he was accompanied by a young woman. Quite possibly around the same age as Bella, stunning in her tight fitting dress, not too tacky but not too modest either. Heels the size of skyscrapers and easily mistaken to be one of Kol's whores, but he had the feeling that his brother was aiming for something. "What makes you say I don't have a lot of witches down there?"

"Yes, perhaps, but are they Mikaelson friendly?"

Perhaps not. The majority were following Davina, and she still had a bone to pick with them. Klaus in particular, and Kol maybe for dumping her the moment he was resurrected for 'safety purposes'.

"This lovely lady is Jeri. We've been seeing each other for weeks now, and she's a _very_ friendly witch," Kol smirked as he pulled her closer to him. "Quite the powerhouse too."

"Oh, don't sell yourself short, Kol," Jeri almost purred up to him before extending her hand to Klaus. "Nice to finally meet you."

Klaus blinked at her, shaking her hand before looking at Kol. "You have some explaining to do."

"No, I don't. Anyway, she's a brilliant witch and has agreed to look into your 'situation,' as Davina seems to be taking her sweet time, and I know you want answers. Jeri doesn't have the same limitations as she's not from New Orleans."

"Where did you dig her up then?"

"Hello, I'm right here!" Jeri snapped her fingers in front of Klaus' face. "Don't talk about me as if I'm not present because damn it if you don't want my help then screw you. Kol and I are going to have some fun in his room. And if you want to know, my parents and I are part of a small Traveller community that didn't agree with the majority of our kind. Like Kol, we never wanted to happen what's happened to the Other Side."

Klaus was momentarily distracted when Rebekah and Bella finally decided to emerge from Bella's room and walked out. Bella looked incredible in her dress that looked like a painting on itself. She was wearing flat shoes underneath it, but the whole attire suited her. "Excuse me for one moment," he muttered as he walked over to them and gently took Bella's hand before kissing it. "You look wonderful, Bella."

Bella blushed furiously as she looked at him. "Thank you."

Oh, he wanted to take her back to his room and have his way with her. She had filled out nicely over the last six months, and the dress accentuated her beautiful body despite it being not tightly wrapped around her, unlike his sister's dress. He wanted to feel underneath her dress, slip his hands right up her leg and…

"Focus," Rebekah said as she pushed her brother's shoulder a little bit.

"Right," he let out a breath and smiled at Bella. "I'd like you to meet someone, you can join Rebekah in a moment."

"Oh, here she comes, the Mikaelson's best kept secret," Kol grinned as he saw his brother walk up to them with Bella on his arm. "Wow, Poppet, look at you!"

"Wow, that dress is so cute," Jeri said when Klaus and the girl - Bella - rejoined them. "Hi, I'm Jeri, I'm a friend of Kol's." She extended her hand to her for her to take it.

Bella looked up to Klaus to see if it was safe to shake her hand and when he nodded, she shook Jeri's hand. When she wanted to pull away her hand and wrap it around Klaus' arm, Jeri wouldn't let go, no matter if Bella gave a tug, Jeri was holding on tightly. "Can I have it back, please?" she asked softly as she tried to take a step back, so Klaus was in front of her.

"Jeri, darling," Kol said sweetly. "You're doing it again."

"She has strong magic in her blood," she murmured. "It is unnatural."

"We know, just let go of her before my brother thinks you're going to take her away from him," he crooned and squeezed her shoulder. "On top of that, I believe you're scaring our little social recluse."

She tilted her head to the side slightly for a moment before she reluctantly let go. "I would need some of her blood - and his. To know what it is that they have done."

"They arranged for a witch to use Klaus' blood to make sure no vampire could turn her, that's all."

Jeri shook her head and waved his explanation off. "Yes, I see that already. But there is more to it. I need the untainted blood of Klaus' and hers now to compare and to figure out. I could have answers in as little as a few days. Maybe less if the powers are cooperative."

Klaus thought for a moment and shook his head. "If - if - I'm going to hand over some of my blood, Kol is going to keep an eye on you. Hell, I might even join him."

The witch turned to look up at him, her own nerves over what she sensed unsettling. "I would expect nothing less, especially from what I've gathered from your attachment to her blood. It is yours after all."

Kol beamed at his brother. "I told you; she's good."

Klaus huffed. "Very well, you can start tomorrow. We'll arrange space for you to work in."

"Klaus is going to see if Bella can handle a lot of people at once," Kol explained. "Hence his impatience to get away from us." He wrapped his arms around Jeri and started to nuzzle her neck. "Relax, darling, I'm sure their blood won't explode upon impact."

She huffed as she watched Klaus and Bella walk off, relaxing in her lover's arms. "You never know with some crazy magic practitioners."

"Would you want to join the party or shall we have a party of our own?" Kol smirked as his hand traveled over her torso over her dress and squeezed her inner thigh. "What do you say?"

"Fuck," she groaned as she turned around and kissed him eagerly.

Klaus proudly lead Bella down the stairs, making sure nobody was lurking underneath the stairs to take a peek underneath her skirt. He could feel the anxiety in her body rise, and he simply held on to her. "Most of the vampires you've seen before. They're ours," he murmured. "There are a handful of witches, most likely only here to check up on us and see what we're up to, and some werewolves. Nobody here is going to hurt you."

"So many people and it's so loud!"

"I agree, I tend to like a more refined sort of party. Such as a ball. We'll host a ball over Christmas, I promise. You will love it," he lead her towards the cold buffet. "Are you hungry?"

"I think I'm too nervous to eat."

"You have to eat something," he said encouragingly and grabbed a plate for her. "How about some fruit?"

"What if this dress gets spilled upon?"

"Then it gets spilled upon, no harm done. We get you out of the dress and buy you another."

Bella smirked as she looked up to him. "So I'll be naked until you buy me a new one? What will you do to me while I'm naked?"

"Did Rebekah put you up to this?" He questioned as he put some fresh fruit on her plate.

"No, it's all me," she grinned. "And maybe she did… a little… But I think it's the dress. It certainly is the dress' fault."

"Of course it's the dress' fault," he smiled at her. "And to answer your question, what would you like me to do while you are naked? I could cover you up like earlier today."

Bella looked up at him, her lips pouting as she recalled the experience. "No, that blanket was itchy on my skin."

"We'll get you another one."

"No."

He was taken aback at her strong response and looked back to her to gauge her sincerity. To determine if she might have been compelled to be so brazen with him as she had yet to be this...forthcoming before. "No?"

"No," she smiled at him as she took a grape off her plate and popped it in her mouth before finding the cherries. She absolutely loved cherries. "Can I have some of those too?"

Klaus pulled in a breath through his nose as his eyes darted to where she pointed. He immediately looked back up to her, and his blue eyes darkened as they narrowed. "What game are you playing dear Bella?" he asked as he gave her a playful smile, slowly adding a few pieces of the fruit for her.

"I love cherries," she said with a shrug.

"Yes. I recall that breakfast vividly," he mumbled, more to himself as he continued to eye her cautiously.

"I like bananas too, but you haven't gotten that out here…" she said with a slight pout.

Klaus only hummed as he nodded before letting out a breath and smiled devilishly. "Oh, I am sure we can rectify that…"

She then looked up at him as she took a step closer to him. "I could have yours…"

"You could…" he responded, his voice soft as he looked upon her, the party around them all but a blur. "First, please answer a question for me, Love. What brought about this sudden change? Not that I am objecting."

"I really like you and… and you probably think I do that because of some… weird, misguided sense of obligation due to my past…" she observed his face for some response. "Don't get me wrong, I'm really grateful for what your family has done for me and continues to do for me. But I know that what I'm feeling for you… is what I'm genuinely feeling for you. I talked to Rebekah about it and… she more or less confirmed what I was feeling was the real thing. And I could wait a million more years for you to make the first move but I don't want that."

Klaus' lips twitched, fighting against the triumphant grin that wanted to come out at her own revelation of her emotions but the fact that they centered on him had him feeling humbled. "Well then, how about we take our party somewhere a little more private and discuss this some more?"

"Can we bring the fruit?"

"Anything you want, Love," he said as his eyes scanned the crowd. He saw that all was in order but was just as eager to depart and finally gave into the desires he'd refused himself for months.

She sought Rebekah in the crowd as they walked towards the stairs with a big smile on her face, and when she found her, Rebekah gave Bella two thumbs up. Of course, she had been listening in. Bella was so glad she didn't screw this up with Klaus. She had been so worried that he'd think otherwise and that he'd refuse her, but he didn't. At least not yet.

"Bella?"

Bella stopped in her tracks halfway up the stairs as she turned around to the voice calling her name. "Mom?" she stammered, blinking at her and unsure if she should let go of Klaus and fling herself around Rosalie's neck or stay right beside him for safety.

Within moments, they were surrounded by Klaus' siblings, Marcel and some of the vampires who were working security that night. The convergence didn't cause many eyes on them from the partying crowd, but enough to cause a slight murmur going around.

Rosalie defensively held up her hands. "Please, I'm not here to hurt her or to take her away," she spoke quietly as she looked at Klaus. "Is there somewhere we can talk, privately?"

"Very well," Klaus said as he was glad he was holding Bella's dinner plate. He would have gone straight for Rosalie's head if this hadn't been the case. "Kol. Bring your witch, we're going downstairs."

The younger brother glared at the Cold One and merely nodded his agreement before turning and setting off to collect his girlfriend that he knew was nearby watching safely. "Anything else brother?"

"No," Klaus said with a low growl and motioned for the entire party to escort Rosalie to the basement, to the same area he had Jacob in before. It was going to be their little Cullen containment area now. Yes, it was fitting.

Bella didn't know what to think. She was holding on to Klaus, and while she knew that she shouldn't be afraid of Rosalie, she felt herself shaking a little bit. She hated it when things she suspected came true and despite for her have said that she wasn't there to take Bella away, she couldn't help but think the opposite.

Klaus knew that for Bella's true safety, she should be somewhere else entirely, but when he compared her reaction to Jacob with her reaction to Rosalie, he could tell that she trusted her. Klaus didn't, but he hoped, for Bella's sake, that he was wrong. "I want you to contain her if she starts to escape," he told Jeri, who huffed a response. "What?"

"You could add a please to that, or, better yet, ask me. Don't tell me what to do. I'm not working for you. I'm not another tool on your belt, got that?"

Bella blinked at that. The only two women she had heard speak like that to Klaus were Cami and Rebekah. This girl had some balls.

"Please?" Klaus sighed as he had Bella sit down on a chair and handed her her plate of fruit. He wanted his hands free.

"Gotcha, boss."

He fought the urge to snap her neck and turned his attention to Rosalie, who had a frightened look on her face. He dismissed Marcel and his vampires as he and Kol were more than capable of handling a Cold One, especially with a witch on their side. "If you honestly mean no harm, I advise you to speak now."

"The mutt was here, wasn't he?" The first words Rosalie spoke since they were on the stairs, and it was about Jacob. She was scrunching her nose as if she was smelling something foul. "I'm sorry, his scent is quite distracting. I was fortunate not to live in the main building."

"Why are you here?" Bella asked softly, staring at her plate before looking up to Rosalie. "You should have stayed away."

"I can't believe you're talking," Rosalie smiled at her, letting out a sigh of relief. "Are they treating you well? Not like my brother?"

Bella nodded. "Why are you here?" She repeated.

The Cold One's face fell slightly as she had been casually dismissed by the girl she had raised. The emotion, the hurt that flashed across her face was quick as she looked down briefly before she faced her and her new family again. "I wanted to be sure that you were truly safe. And to warn you and your new family. The others are searching for you. They know you are out here and that you are with traditionals - just not with whom exactly. All they know is that the shifter wolf got you out and were following his crumbs and if he found you and then I… It will only be a matter of time. Emmett is an excellent tracker, and I know how to evade him, but even then, he still follows Carlisle's word as law."

Klaus noticed that Bella had gone rigid upon the mention of those names and moved between her and the Cold One. "What I don't understand is that while you wish her no harm, you come here to tell her that your family is out looking for her?" He had to count to ten, no matter how genuine the woman sounded, his teeth were on edge.

"To warn you. Take her from here. Anywhere they won't find her! I didn't want this for her, any of what Carlisle did! I tried to stop him, but I couldn't. He had all of them against me and the only ones that backed me were captured and imprisoned for treason," she argued. "She deserves more that what she suffered with Edward and trust me that they only intend to pull her back to that life. It's not like she would ever find the only one that can turn her! Carlisle won't tell any of us what he did to her!"

Klaus blinked at that. "What do you mean by that? I'm the only one who can turn her?"

Jeri raised an eyebrow as she paid closer attention as the vampire continued, coming closer to the bars in her distress. "I don't know! I just know that whoever's blood he used in his mad scientist experiment bound her to them. Bella couldn't be taken by the traditionals we had around if they decided to have a morality kick, as in turn her or take her. He got friendly with a witch who helped him bind her to someone that she had no chance of ever coming in contact with that could turn her. That is all I know."

The witch turned to look at the young woman and frowned. "It makes sense. She has no human blood in her but still smells human," she pointed out to him. "It has to be a part of the spell used."

"No human blood?" Kol spluttered as he looked at her. "She's human, of course, she has human blood in her."

"She is but for all intents and purposes, she can be considered a hybrid as she has Klaus' blood in her veins. Despite it being unpure with the magic in it," she explained. "That's the binding that this Carlisle did it sounds. He replaced her blood with a spelled sample of the hybrid, turning hers into his. Quite ingenious really. I imagine he practically destroyed his lab with that witch when they performed this spell."

"I don't remember much, really. Only that I had to drink something." Bella said as she popped a cherry in her mouth.

Jeri smiled sweetly as she eyed the girl. "Dear, please ease up with the fruit. I don't think your boyfriend can control himself much more. He does need to focus on the more pressing matters before tending to other needs," she teased.

"I'm hungry. He said I could have fruit," she said defensively.

"Just not the cherries," she murmured as she smiled up at the hybrid man innocently, raising an eyebrow mockingly. "Save them for the bedroom."

"I genuinely can't see what you mean, they're just cherries. And I like them."

Kol reached for Bella's plate and removed the cherries, starting to munch on them himself.

Klaus let out a low growl and looked at Rosalie. "If you cared so much about her, why didn't you simply pack up and leave?"

"For one, would you simply pack up and leave your family even though they're not the sanest people to be around? And two, I was all by myself. The only allies I had were locked up in prison, and the other one was working closely to the higher ups. To be on the run with a small child? Please."

Jeri snorted. "She has you there. You've been known to dagger your siblings and cart them around in boxes when things don't go your way," she spoke up as she perched herself up on the table beside Bella.

"He does?" Bella blinked at Jeri. "How do you know?"

"Oh yeah! But he hasn't done it in some time. Word gets around with witches. He's got quite the reputation, but most witches don't like vampires. I happen to be quite fond of them. Especially the bad boys," she grinned wickedly as she looked to Kol.

"Kol, put a muzzle on your witch before she says something else that I wasn't prepared to tell Bella yet," Klaus warned his brother.

"She's been taking sips of my blood for the last week or so after she and I agreed that we'd like to enjoy each other a bit longer. Kill her, and you'll make my day because she'll only return, and you'll be worse off."

"I'll just kill her again."

"Somehow I doubt that. She'd feed you your testicles for lunch and rip out your intestines to wrap around your neck."

Jeri merely continued to smile back at Klaus as he glared at his brother and her as he pondered the threat and overconfidence the two shared. There was more they weren't sharing, and it unnerved him with the untold secrets. He turned back to Rosalie and tiredly rubbed his eyes. "Did he use Bella for more experiments? Do you think there's long lasting damage?"

"If he did, I have no knowledge of it," Rosalie answered sincerely. "Bella was taken from my care when she turned eighteen and given to my brother. I tried to stop it, but even my own husband stopped me."

"But they experimented on her before that and operated on her?"

"Yes. As soon as she was able to begin to conceive, our father performed a hysterectomy. I fought tooth and nail against that, but he did not want any more children around the property. It wasn't until later, after seeing how Bella responded to his - methods, that he considered finding me another infant to raise. I just wanted my Bella, my daughter. They were all insane following him like some deity."

"You do realize that while she appears to be fully functional, she'll always be damaged? You should have found somewhere safe for yourself to run and hide with if you truly wanted her to be a normal, human girl."

Rosalie shook her head and closed her eyes. "I don't care if you kill me. They are going to burn me when they find me anyway for leaving them as I have. I just had to make sure that she was truly safe and see that she was happy with my own eyes after what they had done. If that isn't enough then I feel sorry for you," she said as she stepped back and sat on the floor against the farthest wall away from them, turning away.

"You should go and find Peter," Bella eventually spoke. "I'm sure Jasper and Alice are with him. You'll be safe."

Klaus looked over his shoulder as he narrowed his eyes on her in question. "Who is this Peter, love?" he asked as gently as he could, pushing his anger and jealousy down.

"Peter was Gentleman of the bedchambers to Edward. He helped him bathe and dress and things like that. He went where Edward went, most of the time. And if he was around, and I was still hurt from the last time, he turned people away. Or suggested to Edward that I had to take a hot bath to rest up. Sometimes, he even lied to other people about my state. I didn't know it then, but he was looking out for me the best that he could," Bella replied, taking a breath. "When Edward would give me to Peter to use, we just talked. Or he talked, and I listened. Or I'd fall asleep, safe for a couple of hours."

"Peter was a good actor," Kol piped up. "Even I believed his big stories about what he had done to Bella or what he was going to do. Didn't like him."

"That's because he's gifted. He knew what and when he needed to do something, or where to be. The asshole is annoying like that," Rosalie muttered from the shadows of her prison. "I wouldn't doubt that if this comes to a battle, he will show up in the middle just to fuck with everyone simply because he likes Bella."

"So go to him. You'll be safe," Bella said encouragingly. "Klaus promised you amnesty."

"I didn't want her to know that, love," Klaus sighed with a small smile on his lips. Sometimes, Bella was too much of an innocent. "That's what we call leverage or the element of surprise."

"We like scaring people and then releasing them when they're telling the truth," Kol grinned.

Rosalie looked between each of them, her enhanced eyesight trying to pick up on the nuances in their facial expressions. "Is this true? She isn't lying for you?"

"No," Klaus shook her head. "Bella seems to be unable to tell a lie. She's the purest of hearts and enjoys making things quite complicated sometimes while with different things, she finds the simplest answer. She's a delight to have around."

"And sometimes quite frustrating," Kol said with a nod as he opened the cell.

"But, as I've told Bella, should you show your face here again, unannounced, we will take out all our frustrations and anger on you," Klaus added as he looked at the woman. "If I find out you inform your family about who she's with, I will hunt you down."

Rosalie nodded and looked past him to Bella as he refused to budge to allow her by. "Treat her like the angel she is," she told him. "I will hunt you down like the angry mother that I would be."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Kol snickered as he took a step back towards Jeri. "She has him wrapped all around her little finger."

"No, I don't," Bella said as she watched Kol eat the last cherry.

"Sure you don't," the witch muttered. "If we're done here, I'd like to take some blood from the two of you so that I can work on figuring out what the bastard did first thing in the morning. There is a party upstairs, and we had other plans to tend to tonight," she implied as she ran her hand up the back of her vampire's neck and into his hair.

"I said you'd get our blood tomorrow," Klaus said as he turned to the witch.

Bella got to her feet and walked over to Rosalie to hug her tightly. "You're so cold," she whispered.

"I could take it without your knowing you know," she pointed out. "I thought I would just be nice and ask for it. I'll wait, but I thought I would start and let the two of you sleep in tomorrow so that Kol and I can begin early. No need to be a sour puss. Geez, you really need to get laid. You're such a grouch."

Klaus let out a snarl and blinked when he didn't see Bella sit on her chair anymore. Turning around, he saw that she was hugging Rosalie. Damn that witch for taking his mind off of Bella. He wanted to tear her away from the Cold One, to protect her, to make sure she was alright, but decided against it.

"Let her have her goodbye," Jeri said as she watched the two.

"Shut up," Klaus said as he carefully eyed Bella and Rosalie.

She smiled playfully. "Make me."

"No need for bloodshed in front of Bella. Play nice," Kol said soothingly. "Let's go back to our own party."

Her smile fell as she looked upon the girls and nodded absently. "If it's any consolation. I don't think she'll see her again after this. Not for a long time at least. See you in the morning, Klaus," she said as she bid a quiet goodnight and followed her beau out silently.

"Promise me you'll go to Peter."

Rosalie sighed and nodded. "I promise. I'll do my best."

"I'm okay, Mom. They're taking real good care of me, and I haven't been hurt, and no man has touched me the way they used to do," she smiled up to her, still hugging her tightly. "I have my own room and Klaus made paintings for it. They are gorgeous. I never had paintings in my room before. Or a room of my own that I can remember."

The Cold One glanced up to Klaus over her shoulder with doubt as she held her close as she saw exactly how possessive he was of her. "You are sure that no one has tried anything? You might not remember..."

"There was this one vampire that had his teeth sunk into her, but my second in command caught him and dealt with him," Klaus said remorsefully. "She doesn't remember, but she knows about it as we've told her." He hesitated for a moment as he studied the woman. Coming to a decision, he nodded more to himself. "Bella, if you would like to show your mother your room before she leaves us, you are more than welcome. I only ask that you have Marcel or Rebekah at your side. I must speak with Elijah over what we learned here."

"Now? Can't that wait until tomorrow?"

Rosalie shook her head with a sad smile. "I'm sorry Bella but the longer I stay around, the more danger you would be in with me here. I would need to put as much distance between us. I came only to give you all the heads up to take precautions against the family. You are in a much better place here than I could ever give you now. I am so proud of you Bella. Show me your life here!"

"Okay," she let go of Rosalie and hugged Klaus. "Thank you," she smiled up to him before letting him go too and took Rosalie's hand before dragging her back upstairs. Rebekah was already waiting on top of the stairs with a smile on her face. "Rose, this is Rebekah. Rebekah, this is my Mom."

"I would say it's a pleasure, but I am sure you understand my reservations given the circumstances. I overheard my brother's permissions," Rebekah smiled politely to the opposing blond that she felt threatened her position with the girl. "As long as we are clear that there will be no funny business, we should get along just fine until your visit is over."

"I don't want any funny business," Rosalie replied as she looked at the woman. "If you've overheard your brother's permission, then you already heard me saying that I don't plan on staying for too long as that would only endanger Bella even further."

The original vampire nodded silently, smiling sweetly only to Bella before turning on her heel to lead them through the compound to bypass the party guests. "Would you like some blood before you leave and to take with you? We have plenty of blood bags on hand," she offered as they neared the kitchen.

"No, thank you. I'm a vegetarian."

"Are you a broken vampire?" she questioned. "The last vegetarian I knew was a ripper. Much more fun."

"I've had animal blood for too long that I'm afraid I won't be able to control myself when drinking human blood," Rosalie answered candidly. "Bella's not the only one who's dealing with influences from the past."

Rebekah hummed thoughtfully. "Perhaps one day, if Klaus is open to it, he may offer to help. I cannot guarantee it, and I doubt it would be anytime soon. His resentment for your family is too strong right now, as is the rest of our family when it comes to Bella. But do know that he is aware of a method that can help you and it is his choice to offer it. Especially now that it seems that we have acquired a witch into our family."

"I'll be okay. Granted, I'd be stronger when feeding upon humans, but I'm not severely disadvantaged by the change of diet. Blood is blood, and there are plenty of deer. However, the men in our family did drink human blood. They are stronger. Especially my husband Emmett, he is one to look out for."

"So that you couldn't fight back. I fight that deplorable. Bella? What was one of the first things that I said to you when you came to us?" Rebekah asked as she stared the other vampire down.

"Us girls need to stick together," Bella replied with a nod. "Rebekah was teaching me some self-defense. How to kill a vampire like her if they attacked me. Like Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

"Who?"

"We discovered it helps her a lot when watching fictional people on a TV screen," Rebekah explained as she stopped in front of Bella's room. "But that's right, the first thing I said to Bella was that us girls need to stick together. Men always think they're smarter than us, stronger. It's a good thing they don't think highly of us in most matters so we can surprise them, and the look on their faces is just priceless."

"Oh!" Bella smiled widely. "You should have seen Klaus' face when I kissed him!" Bella giggled. "Or when Jeri talked back to him!"

"She did? The girl has some balls. If she sticks around as you do, we should induct her into our girls' pact, don't you think?" Rebekah smiled at Bella, who nodded in response. She then opened the door to Bella's room. "Bella's room is unlocked, but she can lock it if she wants to. We had to adjust the faucets in the bathroom because of her bathing habits from her time with your family."

Rosalie nodded. "I understand. Carlisle's approach to her was very scientific and well calculated. Thank you for taking her safety in regard."

"Well, I'll give you some time. I will be just outside the door if you need me, Bella - listening," she said as she looked to the girl before walking out.

"This bed is incredible," Bella said as she pointed at it. "It's so soft and warm and comfy. And I sit in the window a lot, just to look outside if Klaus is busy."

Rosalie sat carefully as she looked around at the paintings that had been mentioned earlier, noticing a certain theme to them. "What do you do when you are not in your room? Besides the training with Rebekah."

"Kol and I run a few rounds around the compound, and I often watch Klaus paint. I even have my own spot on the sofa and a blanket for when I fall asleep," she said with a grin. "I offered them to do chores, but they have paid staff to do them."

"You do know their kind of vampire is capable of controlling your mind? Have they done anything like that?" Rebekah hissed from the hallway in warning.

"No, not that I know of," she said as she sat on her bed. "Well, there's this one time. Rebekah told me that I was something called… Uhm… hypersexual and that it was distracting for everyone?" She reached for her dresser and showed Rosalie her vibrator. "It worked for a while, and then it didn't. Now I don't use it anymore. Klaus did that, though. Compelling me not to offer myself to everyone. But he lifted it a while ago, and I'm doing fine." She put the toy back in her dresser. "I know they may not tell me everything, probably for my sake in their belief. But they haven't deliberately lied or hurt me. Everything they've done was to help me. I trust them. I love Rebekah as I love you, Mom. I love Kol like I loved Peter. I - love Klaus. I even like Elijah. And have you any idea how amazing it is to be allowed to feel? To actually feel? It's like breathing; I need it."

Rosalie wished she was capable of crying because if she could, she would be. Standing from her seat, she quietly made her way over to her daughter and gently kissed her forehead as she held her face in her cold hands. "I love you, Bella. Forever. No matter how things turn out. Remember that. I will try to send word to your family if I find Peter and his group. You promise me that you hold onto this family and never let them go. You never let them go without a fight," she said strongly as she stared into the girl's dark brown eyes.

"I won't, Mom, I won't. Not unless they tire of me, but I won't let go."

"I can assure you they won't. Especially your vampire. He's rather a handsome one, and he is infatuated with you," she teased. "You just make sure you give that one hell. I really should get on the road now though, and I'm sure he is waiting for you."

Bella nodded. "Be careful, mom. Find Peter and be safe. I'll be okay." She bravely smiled up to her, withholding her tears. "Despite everything, I do love you."

Rosalie planted another kiss on Bella's head before turning around and speeding out of the building.

She took a deep breath and sat down on her bed, slightly dazed and emotional from the encounter. But she did well, Bella was proud of herself. She felt sorry for her mother and hoped she'd be able to find Peter and not run into Emmett. Or any of the other vampires who were under Carlisle's reign. Taking a deep breath, she managed to collect herself eventually and got off the bed. She greeted Rebekah with a big smile on her face. "Thank you, Rebekah."

Rebekah smiled back and held her arms open, not usually one to give hugs but knew that that the girl would be in need of one. "Anytime love. Come here," she said, pulling her into her embrace. "Do you feel better?"

"No, not really… I'm now worried," Bella murmured as she tightened her hold on Rebekah. "Although I am glad she was the one who arrived and not someone else."

"I am sure she will be alright. Klaus knows she is important to you. I doubt he would just let her go off without someone tracking her. He just won't tell anyone because he wants to be seen as the tough guy," she winked. "Come now. He is probably chomping at the bit to have you by now."

"No doubt he wants to check me over for any damage," she said with a snort.

Rebekah smirked. "Check you over, sure. For damage, not so much. You really did not see how he stared at you all evening?"

"Of course I did, I just thought that was because I kissed him earlier."

"I am sure it's what ignited it, but you gave him the go ahead. Are you ready for that now? Because if you aren't, he will wait," she said as she stopped short with concern.

"Of course I am," she smiled brightly at Rebekah. "I think that if I don't get to feel his hands on me that I might explode, and you'll have to scrape me off the walls. Brain matter and plasma and hair…"

"Please, Bella don't...I don't need to hear this. It's bad enough with Kol and his witch being near my room. Thankfully Klaus' room is nowhere near!"

"The party's not over yet," Bella smiled at her. "You and Marcel always seem to hit it off very well, try to seduce him."

She sighed as they crossed the balcony and glanced over. "We have had our story, once upon a time. He chose Klaus over me; then there were other complications with our father that drove us from New Orleans. Needless to say, the history there is complicated and one that I don't know if I want to revisit. You just worry about your happiness tonight. Don't worry about the party."

Bella hugged Rebekah again. "Have a good night then, Rebekah. Tell me all about the party tomorrow." And with that, Bella quietly opened the door to Klaus' quarters and closed it behind her after having gotten in.


	12. Come Undone

After he had spoken to Elijah, Elijah had left him alone in his study. Klaus was feeling restless, because if he had to believe the woman's words, the Cullens were going to be knocking on their door quite soon. Marcel needed to check and see if his vampires were still up to scratch for a fight. In the morning, he was going to ask Davina - no, Jeri - to put protective wards up against Cold Ones. If there was such a thing. A warning system of some kind.

On top of that, if her words were true, he was the only one capable of turning Bella. And while he adored human Bella, she'd be less easy to take if she'd become a vampire. He knew he had to wait for the witch to confirm this, but if Bella agreed to it, he'd certainly turn her. He wanted her to be safe and able to at least fight someone off when needed. The sparring she was doing with Rebekah and Kol previously wasn't enough. Vampires were fast and strong and Bella unwilling to kill.

Elijah, of course, approached the situation with some humor. That once again his little brother had unknowingly and unwillingly made things more complicated for him. He also knew the severity of the Cold One's warning and would do anything he could to make sure his family would be safe. That Bella would be safe. Maybe even contact some of his specialists to track them down and report every moment so that they'd have an estimate of their arrival.

One thing was certain; there was going to be yet another battle.

This restless feeling had only briefly distracted him from his anxiety when it came towards Bella. While he was used to being interrupted during courtship or even mid-coitus, he hated it that Rosalie had to interrupt his moment with Bella. This was by far the worst night to finally give into his desires and no doubt Bella would be emotionally drained from the experience and fall asleep.

While Klaus was well versed when it came to the pleasures of women and how to pleasure them in return, he felt nervous. What if Bella didn't like what he did to her? What if he couldn't get it up or what if he couldn't give her the high that she so deserved. Worse yet; what if he'd come inside of her before she was even well ready?

More importantly; would she even like the experience now that she allowed herself to feel? What if she didn't like it, at all? What if it'd make her revert to her previous state and let him use her body for sex without her enjoying it?

There he was; a thousand years old and he was freaking out about bedding a woman. Not just any woman but Bella. His precious Bella. Mate potential. Was he seriously considering her to be his mate? Would he be patient enough to have her around for the rest of her days? And his days, for that matter? What if she'd get fed up with him?

"Oh, my God, Nik!" Klaus could hear Kol's voice coming from the other end of the building. "Think even louder and Jeri might come over and slap you silly! You're ruining our fun!"

"If you don't like it, then leave. And tell that witch of yours that it's not polite to intrude on other people's thoughts!"

"She's not! Thanks for confirming you're a wuss, though!" A quieter, "It's so much fun to push his buttons." Quickly followed and Klaus angrily kicked open the French doors that lead to the balcony overlooking the courtyard.

Where was she? What was taking her so long?

He perked up when a few moments later, the door quietly opened and revealed his beautiful Bella, looking at him with her big brown eyes from across the room. He closed the gap between them and kissed her passionately, making sure she wouldn't fall over from his weight and lifted her into his arms as he kept the kiss going.

She tasted so sweet, so delicate. Her own desire was now getting the better of her, and she kissed him back, hard. When their tongues met, it was almost as if a spark of electricity shot through them, and it seemed to only fuel the frenzy they were currently experiencing.

Unable to properly think at the moment, he brought her to his bed and carefully put her on it. She wasn't letting go, she pulled him in closer as she tugged on his hair, her body arching into his, already demanding for more.

It wasn't until he could smell her delicious arousal that he had to break off the kiss to catch a breath and make sure she was really okay. "Are you alright?" He asked as he looked into her eyes. They were stunning.

"I'm alright," she smiled at him and wanted to pull him back in for another kiss, she had loved the rawness of it, she wanted more. "What?"

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this," he murmured as he kissed the tip of her nose before looking at her again. "But I want to make one thing clear, love."

"Do you have to?" she bit her lower lip as she kept looking at him.

"For my own conscience, yes," he said with a groan. Why did she have to bite her lip like that? "Should the possibility arise that you're not enjoying yourself, please tell me. I won't get mad if you do."

"That's it?"

"Yes."

"You're such a sausage sometimes," she muttered as she tugged on his shirt. "Off."

"Promise me, Bella."

"I promise!" she laughed as she kept tugging on his shirt, but when he wasn't moving, she pulled him towards her and kissed him again.

"Would you like to be on top?"

"Klaus."

"I mean…"

Bella used her weight to flip him over on the bed like Rebekah had taught her and sat down on top of him. "If you're not going to shut up and not going to stop listening to your insecurities or nervousness, you're going to be in trouble."

He just looked at her, eyes darkened with lust. He felt how she shimmied down his body to open his pants, and he couldn't take his eyes off of her. "Who are you and what have you done to Bella?"

"I have a banana to sample," she said as she managed to free him. "You offered." She shimmied down even further, not taking her eyes off of his arousal and tugged on his pants to give him some more room to move. "And it's glorious," she licked her lips as she ideally positioned herself to get a taste of him.

She grabbed his base and licked up his length, circling her tongue around his head and then looked at him through her lashes, licking her lips. "So far, so good."

Klaus let out a groan. He hadn't expected this. He wanted to pleasure her, had thought he'd pleasure her, and there she was, his cock in her beautiful hands, her tongue teasing him. No clothes had been shed so far, and he was going to remedy that, he was. But now he was simply too fascinated with her to actually do something other than looking at how she was worshipping his cock. He let out a moan when she put her mouth around the head. Would she be capable of making it disappear into her mouth completely?

She hummed around him and sucked a little, before she tightened her lips and started bobbing her head up and down his shaft, long strokes, a squeeze, a suck… the taste of him was overwhelming, and it was so good that she couldn't help but moan occasionally. She could feel him swell in her mouth, the veins throbbing as she worked him and lost track of time as she did everything she could to pleasure him, and taste him.

His cock hit the back of her throat, and he couldn't help but to arch his body into her. "Fuck, do that again…" he groaned, and she did, again and again, before allowing him to slip deeper into her throat and she seemed to be doing fine with that. She sucked and worked him with his hands, rolling his balls and everything else combined drove him wild. She had been going for quite some time now, and he was ready to blow.

She moaned around his cock, feeling confident that he was close and getting even closer with every stroke. She felt proud of herself; she was able to give pleasure to him, her Klaus. Hers. The person she loved. Truly with all she could muster, and she felt elated; finally they were both giving in to the feelings they had had for weeks, months, even. He finally opened up to her and soon, he'd fly apart in her mouth. The thought of that made her even wetter; he'd have no trouble with sliding into her! She buried him in her mouth, completely, for the last time and felt how he unraveled and exploded in her throat.

He came, hard, after having to use his own hand for so long and not having sought out anyone else like Kol had done. Klaus had anticipated that he was going to feel something, but not feeling like this. As if he had truly died and gone to heaven. It felt better than he could ever have imagined. She looked so proud when she released him from her; she had swallowed him whole with little to no spillage and that big smile on her face made him want to have her, now. She had a delirious look on her face that probably matched his.

"You okay?" She grinned as she moved so she could pull his pants off of him. She was excited. She actually loved this now. She had been so worried that she wouldn't like it, but this was different. This was something entirely different, and it was so good. She wanted to do it again. "Want me to do that again?"

He smirked as he pulled her up and down on the bed. "Maybe later," he said playfully and started to kiss her neck as his hand was already on her leg. Finding that something was off, he sat up again and shook his head. "That dress needs to come off."

"There's a zipper at the back."

"Oh, but I'm sure that we can get you a new one," he took hold of the front of her dress and ripped it apart before discarding it somewhere on the floor.

"Klaus!" she said shocked. "That was a pretty dress!"

"We'll get you another one," he said as he unhooked her bra and dropped it off somewhere too before nodding appreciatively. "That's much, much better. Look at you in your naked glory."

She beamed at him as she tugged on his shirt again. That went off too. "Yep," she said as she put her arms around his neck and pulled him against her. His naked skin against hers set off shots of electricity through her entire body. She let out a moan as he started to kiss her neck again and his hand moved between their bodies to reach for her breast.

She was used to being groped, painfully groped and then getting impaled, but Klaus' delicate hands felt like heaven on her skin. She let out another moan before he gently pushed her down to the bed and started to fully explore her body with his lips and hands. Every inch. Every touch, caress felt amazing.

He focused on her torso first, her arms, her legs, but stayed clear of her ever growing wetness and heat, simply because her body tasted so delectable, and her little sounds and moans sounded like music to his ears. They painted a beautiful picture inside his mind, and he wanted to have her fly apart against him from merely his touch.

She gasped when his fingers brushed over her sensitive nipples and arched her back into him. Bella felt as if she was on fire. He was taking his time with her, and it was hard to stay focused, to have a coherent thought. Then again, she didn't need her brains right now; she was allowed to enjoy herself and stop fighting the pleasure. A gentle tug on her left nipple caused her to moan loudly, earning her a wide grin from Klaus. "Please…" she moaned again. "Please."

He merely smirked as he continued his worshipping of her body, and playing with her breasts. She wasn't going to expect him to tell her that she was allowed to come, was she? Eventually, her breathing became shallow, her body rigid underneath him as he continued to stimulate her breasts, her beautiful bouncing breasts. It wasn't long now before she'd come apart underneath him from mere touch, and he felt it was an honor to watch her while she did.

Her whole body felt foreign to her; muscles were twitching, skin was tingling and her blood was rushing so fast that she had become light-headed, or maybe it was because she forgot to breathe every now and then. It seemed like her whole body had given up to try to function properly. She gasped when Klaus twisted her nipple, and she felt how her body simply exploded upon impact.

She came hard and loud, and he felt so proud of her as he watched her ride out her orgasm. Her muscles twitched uncontrollably, and she was writhing on the bed in sheer ecstasy with the biggest, goofiest smile across her face. In the distance, he could pick up his brother and sister cheering as Bella climaxed, which was slightly disturbing but hard to ignore, and grinned. He made her come like that. It was all him. His attentions to her.

When she seemed to have settled, he softly kissed her and caressed her stomach. "You are so beautiful."

Bella let out a giggle and shook her head. "What was that?"

"You've never had an orgasm?" He blinked at her.

"Sure I have," she said with a nod, her eyes trying to focus on him. "I always came. Well, they told me I did."

"Ah, but did you always enjoy yourself like this?"

"No," she grinned and managed to move her arm to pull him closer to her. "My body is feeling outlandish, alien, but so good…"

"Hmm…" he started to kiss her neck again. "Want to go for another?"

"Another?!" she said shocked. "Seriously? We can actually do that?"

"Of course," Klaus moved his hand between her thighs and gently squeezed one before turning his hand towards her center. "We still have to pay attention to the rest of our needs…"

"Ohh…" she could feel his hand on her heat, applying pressure with his palm, and that sent more shivers through her body. This was definitely something she wasn't used to; it always was in and out. It was probably for the best because she wasn't sure if she'd been able to deal with so many men at the same time if she had been allowed to feel. She dug her fingers into his hair and tugged on them as her body arched into his. "Yes please."

He ran his finger up her lips; he could feel her body tremble in anticipation. "Hmm…" he removed his finger and licked her juices off of it. "Oh, you taste so good! I want more." He wet his finger and gently pushed it inside of her, causing her to yelp just a little bit. He had his other hand still on her stomach and smoothly cupped her breast to flick her nipple with his thumb while his other thumb teased her mound.

"F-. Uhm…"

"It's okay to swear, love, don't censor yourself," he smirked as he wiggled his finger inside of her, causing her knees to jerk up and nearly hitting him in the face. Repositioning himself just a little, he pressed a second finger inside of her so he could start opening her up for him. He expected that she was probably used to someone crashing into her without any preparation, he wanted to make sure her first experience with him was the right one. To his knowledge, she hadn't been with anyone since she had been rescued, and he didn't want to end up hurting her.

She had to remind herself to breathe as her brains didn't think she needed oxygen in her lungs, afraid that she was going to hurt Klaus, she fisted the sheets instead of his hair as her body kept moving involuntarily. She already had him in her mouth; she couldn't imagine what it would feel like to have him inside of her and right now, his fingers were making her feel demented. So crazy that it felt as if she was having an out of body experience, which made it feel insane, for sure. Hysterical. There was no doubt about it. But in a good way.

Her breathing became labored again, and he grinned. He didn't mind if she'd come again and again and again. Just to see the look on her face was all worth it and to have her all spent in his bed, that would be marvelous. He kept stimulating her the way he was and he could feel how she unraveled on his fingers within minutes. "Oh, so beautiful," he said appreciatively. She deserved this.

"I don't think I can do it again…" she said as she caught her breath. "I can't feel anything…"

"Oh, don't you worry about that, love, I'm not done with you yet."

"This can't be healthy," she moaned as she could feel how he pushed another finger inside of her. Surprisingly, her body was still moving uncontrollably, but she felt as if all her muscles had taken a vacation.

"Would you like me to stop?"

"No!" she shook her head, feeling her brain bounce around in her skull. She'd been light headed before, but this was sheer pleasure. She wanted to feel him inside of her. She wanted him to come inside of her. "Please."

When he was certain he had created enough space for him, he withdrew his fingers, causing her to whimper. "Don't worry, darling," he said sweetly as he moved between her legs, grabbing a pillow to put underneath her well-rounded ass and when he was confident that the both of them would be comfortable, he started to guide himself in. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, he could smell her blood as it coursed loudly through her veins, her vein teasingly throbbing as he let out a groan. She felt perfect around him, simply perfect.

The sensation of him filling her slowly awoke something inside of her, something she couldn't quite define and probably shouldn't. She managed to put her knees up for more access for him but other than that, she felt as if she was just there for the ride. The wild ride. The feeling so happy that she could combust kind of ride. She moaned when he hit an especially sensitive spot and could feel how his cock twitched. "Oh, you're… you fit…" she breathed as she fisted the sheets as her body yet again moved uncontrollably. "Oh, so good…"

He gave her little time to adjust to him as he was getting impatient and started to move against her. Thrusting with long and slow strokes at first, hitting a spot or two that caused her body to clamp down on him, before slowly picking up the pace. It was getting harder for him to control himself, he wanted to taste her blood now, but if there was one thing he wanted to avoid, was bloodshed, particularly hers, but she smelled so good, her taste was divine and he wondered if that would be the same if he'd drink her blood. Which was technically his. He grinned to himself. He was such an egomaniac.

"What?" Bella moaned.

"Nothing, love," he smirked as he licked along the vein of her neck, he was finding himself on thin ice, but he enjoyed pushing boundaries and see where it'd lead him. He let out a low growl when her hips bucked against him and felt how he was close to toppling over the edge. But first, she had to be on the same plateau as he was. He moved a hand between them and started to rub her clit, causing her to gasp and clamp down on him again, this time not letting go as she had reached her climax again, and he allowed himself to follow her.

She curled up against him the moment he withdrew himself from her, spent, and flopped down next to her on the bed. Putting his arms around her, he couldn't help but letting out a sigh of contentment. "Did you enjoy yourself, Bella?" He could feel her nod against his bare chest. "As did I. We should do this more often, don't you think?" She nodded again and put her arm around his chest while entangling her leg with his. He wasn't going anywhere. "Don't worry, love," he crooned and caressed her hair. "I won't leave. And neither are you."

* * *

 **A/N: If you think that there will be babies, sorry to disappoint you but if you've been reading this story, you'd know that Bella is without a uterus. You know, a womb to grow babies in? She can't get pregnant. NO WOMB = NO BABY.**

 **Thank you everyone for reading! The story is far from being finished and I'm glad that despite its darkness, you guys like it!**

 **xoxo Buggy.**


	13. Gemini

He didn't dare to wake her the following morning. She had slept so peacefully, quietly moaning in her sleep as she appeared to relive their lovemaking, and he didn't have the heart to wake her for breakfast. Instead, he just held her and felt like the luckiest man alive. Until, of course, he heard the door open and watched Jeri walk in with a big smile on her face. "Morning, lovebirds! Wakey wakey!"

"Get out," Klaus spat as he pulled the covers over Bella.

"I vant your blud," Jeri said with a mock-Dracula voice. "Preferably before you two eat something." She leaned against the doorpost and looked at them. "Wow, look at the tear in that dress." She picked it up from the floor and observed it. "Yeah, somebody was eager last night."

"Get out," he repeated with a growl. "Don't make me repeat myself again."

"Hey, I don't mind if you two are naked." She fished two syringes out of her pocket and grinned. "Are you going to wake her up or shall I with a tiny prick?"

"Give us a few minutes," Bella yawned as she looked at Jeri. She'd only woken up because she felt Klaus tense up, and that meant trouble. "Go away. Five minutes."

Jeri narrowed her eyes on the two people in bed and sighed. "Fine," she said with a shrug and with a simple hand movement, she flipped the bed and walked out. Klaus was on her within a blink of an eye, pushing her hard against the nearest wall. "Morning."

"She asked for five minutes."

"And now she has a bed on top of her and yet, your priority is throttling me?" Jeri raised an eyebrow as she didn't show any signs of panic.

"Give me one reason not to end your life here and now."

"I'll only come back."

"I'll end it again." He had briefly forgotten that she was consuming Kol's blood. The traitor. He should dagger him and store him away for eternity.

"I'd like to see you try," Jeri grinned widely. She was as mad as Kol, wasn't she?

Klaus looked over to his brother, who was standing in the doorway to observe it all, too cowardly to go and wake up Klaus and Bella himself. "Oh, yeah, did I mention, brother? She's not just a Traveller."

"Then what is she?" he demanded.

"Kill me, and I'll come back as a witch hybrid," Jeri smirked at him, causing Klaus to immediately let her go. "I think you've heard of my family, the Heretics?"

"You're a Gemini?"

She shrugged as she rubbed her neck and didn't move otherwise. "Quite possibly the last, but shh, don't tell anyone. They might think I'm like Malachai, but he drank the crazy juice."

"How are you still alive?"

"My direct bloodline comes from one of the Heretics and was cut off from the rest of the family so I survived. Awesome, isn't it? And I survived the mass suicide of the Travelers because I wasn't linked to them with the spell. Some crazy shit they were smoking, I didn't want any of that. I'd rather deal with you crazy vampires than those lunatic witches!"

"Kol!"

"What?" Kol said innocently. "As if I knew before I started shagging her!"

"He knew," Jeri snorted. "Oh, he so knew. Oh, I guess your five minutes are up, gorgeous naked hybrid of mine."

"He's mine," Bella said as she wrapped a blanket around herself after digging her way from underneath the bed. She had been fortunate that she had been half entangled with Klaus to begin with, but now she felt even sorer from their gymnastics last night.

"Possessive, are we?" Kol laughed as he saw Bella's bed head. "I must say, you look thoroughly fucked. Well done, brother."

The witch smiled as she eyed Klaus. "Don't worry hun. I am very pleased with my vampire. I do have to say though that yours is quite - well, if I wasn't happy, you might have some competition. In any case, get dressed and come outside so that I can get your blood, and we can get this over with quickly. Dépêche toi!"

"I know that word!" Bella grinned widely. "Carlisle used to yell that into the phone a lot when he was on international calls and then slammed the phone down in anger."

"Hm," Jeri hummed as she looked at the girl thoughtfully. "Good to know. Get dressed. We'll wait for you downstairs. And no playing hide the banana. There is no time for it."

Bella blinked at her for a moment and shrugged, the sentence completely lost on her. "That doesn't sound like a fun game," she muttered as she shuffled to her dress and found it irreparably ripped. She was just about to get into it when Klaus snatched it out of her hands.

"Poppet, you played a hearty game of it last night I could hear," Kol snorted as he closed the door behind his girlfriend, leaving the couple alone as the two ran off.

She tugged on her dress as she looked at Klaus. "She said I needed to get dressed."

"Sure she did, but you don't have to listen to her."

"I think I do."

"Why?"

"You seemed to be afraid of her," she pointed out and tugged on her dress again. "I told you before; I am observant. That's how I knew what people wanted from me. I can even read lips if I try hard enough."

"I'm not necessarily afraid, love," Klaus replied as he started to tear the dress to shreds. She was so adamant to step into the ripped dress that he simply had to. "She's a lot more powerful than I had anticipated. I hope, for Kol's sake, that she is a keeper otherwise we're going to have a lot of problems with her."

"Oh," she had hoped that Jeri would be as breakable as she was, but as it turned out, she wasn't. "Okay. Now what?"

"We are going to take a shower, and we're going to get dressed to go downstairs, give the witch some blood. We'll then have breakfast and if you feel up for it, we can return to bed?"

"I'd like that," Bella said with a grin and put her hands in the air to stretch herself, dropping the blanket in the process.

His eyes drifted down and admired her body, his own arousal growing again. A loud bang of something being thrown at the door startled him out of the naughty thoughts that he had intended for her, making him scowl. "It would seem my siblings are insistent on our presence this morning."

She just stared at the door in shock. "What was that? That wasn't funny, what was that?"

"Just the family urging us to join them. They threw something at the door because they heard my proposal for us and something of it displeased them. Don't worry about it now. Why don't you start the shower and I will collect something from your room for you to change into," he smiled as he pressed his lips to the curve of her neck.

She hummed before turning around, tiptoeing and kissing him and walking towards the bathroom. She had only barely turned the faucet when Klaus had already joined her, surprising her with his hands wrapped around her body. She startled for a short moment and then looked at him. "You need to start wearing a bell."

"I'm sorry, love, I'm simply too excited to join you for that shower," he kissed her neck and reached for the water to check the temperature. Fortunately, she had chosen a safe temperature, although he had fun breaking the faucet in her bathroom so she couldn't put it scorching hot anymore. And he loved it that she loved that, that they were helping her to protect her from herself.

He cursed under his breath when another thump could be heard. "Right, the natives are getting restless," Klaus helped her step underneath the shower and took the showerhead to make things go faster for his siblings. He started to spray water all over Bella's body while she looked up at him with those big brown eyes of hers that made him melt on the inside. "Oh, don't look at me like that, love," he said with a whisper and softly kissed her lips. "We have the rest of the day for ourselves after breakfast." The next thump pissed him off. "This isn't cute."

"Let's get clean and then you can be angry at them," she circled his chest with her fingers and smiled up at him.

"You're a distraction."

"And you wanted to take a shower together," she said with a grin.

Eventually, they made it downstairs. Bella comfortably dressed in a pair of sweatpants - she was grateful that Klaus brought those, she could barely stand as it was and then to walk around in jeans? And a sweater while Klaus opted for his usual attire. But before they even set foot in the dining room, Jeri ambushed them by waving syringes in their faces. Bella immediately took a few steps back and used Klaus as a shield from them.

"Relax, you're such a wuss," Jeri said as she reached around Klaus for Bella's arm and pulled her towards her. "You don't have to look, how else am I going to take blood from you?"

"I don't like the stabby things," Bella muttered and looked at Klaus. "Do I have to?"

"It's just a pinch. A baby needle, barely will scratch, and I'm sure your man will have you forgetting about it before you know it," she said pointedly as she glanced to the hybrid as she readied the needle.

"She needs it for her research," Klaus explained and softly kissed her lips and put a strand of her hair behind her ear.

As he spoke to her, Jeri quickly inserted the needle and drew the blood she needed into the vials, slapping a band-aid over the puncture site as soon as she was finished since the blood came out quick and easy. "Alright, you're next Mr. High and Mighty," she smirked.

"You should watch your tongue," he growled at her.

"So should you when you're the one expecting help from a witch without any expectation of something in return," Jeri said as she jammed the needle in his vein. "I - want nothing from you. I asked for nothing. I offered my help, and it was you who has had the sour tongue with me." When she filled her vials, she withdrew her tubing and capped the blood. "I think you can clean yourself up," she said with a smile as she turned on her heel and walked down the hall to join Kol, who'd been waiting quietly, keeping his distance.

Klaus lowly growled as he rubbed his arm, feeling the hole close already. "Let's have breakfast," he gently guided Bella into the room and blinked when he saw Elijah sit at the table with a companion. "What is this, brother?" Upon closer inspection, he saw that the girl was tied to the chair she was sitting on, and she had a sour look on her face.

"Good morning to you too, Niklaus. Good morning, Bella, I see my brother managed to keep you in one piece?" He said with an amused smile on his face.

Bella huffed as she pushed her chair closer to Klaus' before sitting down. Another stranger. This was getting ridiculous. She already wished this day would be over; it was too eventful for her taste. First, getting rudely woken up by Jeri and then got the bed on top of her, the throwing of things that startled her every time and the stabby thing and now this new person? She felt as if her head was swimming.

After securing the blood somewhere safe, Kol and Jeri soon joined the family, Jeri smiling pleasantly as she took a seat. "Well isn't this nice. Do you share meals together often?"

"Every morning, yes," Elijah replied curtly. "Let me introduce to you, Jessica. As you can tell, she's no longer a human and, unfortunately, she was one of Kol's Mormon virgins."

"Was?" Klaus blinked at his brother.

"Someone decided to get a little bit drunk. I might have found her in a pile of Marcel's vampires. Hence, she's no longer a virgin nor human."

How Elijah could say that with a neutral look on his face was beyond Klaus' comprehension and simply laughed.

Jeri had lifted her teacup to her lips and smiled as she watched the interaction, amused and fascinated. Taking a sip, she couldn't help but to speak up. "I'm curious. If I may ask, where did she stay during the night?"

"Excuse me, but who are you again?" He countered, blinking at her and then looking at Kol. "Since when is it appropriate to bring your catch of the day to the breakfast table?"

She did not take too kindly to that, and Kol said nothing as he simply chuckled. Jeri wiggled her fingers and twisted her wrist, causing the vampire's pristine tie to tighten around his neck, choking him. "I hope you don't need to breathe. You seem a little bit on edge. Maybe you need a nap," she said kindly, with just a bit of bite to her words.

"Don't kill the witch, Elijah," Klaus warned him as he helped himself to some freshly poured blood. After lusting after Bella's the night before, he needed to top himself up. "We'll be worse off if you do."

"How can you just sit there?" Elijah managed to bring out as he tried to stop his tie from choking him.

"Because he's been on the receiving end of her wrath. Good morning family," Rebekah greeted them chipperly and ran her fingers through the redhead's hair. "Jessica is wonderful, don't you think, Elijah? Perfect for you."

Bella was curious as to what happened to the vampires that had been 'on top of Jessica'. Had they been taken care of, like the vampire who had attacked her? Or had nothing happened? She had hoped that Jessica was a human and that maybe she'd stay, but Bella was still the only one. On top of that, Jessica was newborn. This was going to be dangerous for a while.

She wasn't quite sure if she should trust Jeri. Bella was no angel herself, and neither was Rebekah, but Jeri's mouth could be the death of her one day. In all honesty, she was a bit scared of her. The fact that Klaus and Kol respected her power was one thing, but all the warnings of killing her or not killing her?

"I still don't like it that they got to her; they were told the virgins were off-limits for other than drinking purposes!" Kol sulked as he stabbed a dinner roll with his knife and got it on his plate. "What is she doing at the breakfast table anyway? You do know that if she takes one bite out of Bella that Nik will kill her, right?" He poked Jeri to release Elijah from her hold and with reluctance, she obliged.

"Should she survive breakfast, I'll be taking her over to Marcel's, so he can instruct her," Elijah said curtly. "Bella is in no danger."

"Why didn't you take her last night?"

"Marcellus was here, of course. She stayed in my room while she transitioned. You were too busy with your companion to notice," Elijah said simply.

When Jeri lunged forward, Kol pulled her back. "Let it go, darling. I know you're eager to become a Heretic and grow to your full potential, but please, let's keep the peace around the breakfast table."

Bella startled when her stomach started to growl and reluctantly reached for the assorted fruit on the table. She had to admit, she was hungry and hoped that she would be able to eat without any more surprises. She still hadn't been able to process what happened the day before, but she knew that she was happy that it happened.

She took a deep breath as she took a bite from her apple, avoiding the cherries and banana after yesterday's teasing. For some reason, they seemed to think it meant something but it went a little above her head. Bella had to pull herself together. This wasn't her, but she just didn't like change that much.

First she was going to get through breakfast and then she'd go up to Klaus' room to fix the bed that Jeri had ruined by turning it over. Who did that, anyway? She blinked when something hit her head from across the table and saw it fell into her lap. It was a grape. When she looked up, she saw Kol grin widely at her before he pelted another grape at her.

She kept staring at him as she continued munching on her apple, and he kept throwing grapes at her for as long as she was dealing with the apple. When she finished it, she started to eat all the grapes he had thrown at her. When she was done with those, he lifted a dinner roll and was just about to throw it at her when Klaus spoke up. "Kol, it's great that you found a new way to feed my Bella, but I am sure she's more than capable of picking her own breakfast."

"Oh come on, Nik. We were simply having some fun!"

Bella reached for a pancake, rolled it up and started to eat it. Wasn't what they were doing to Jessica the same as what happened with her? Sort of? The girl had been taken advantage of while she didn't know any better as she was under compulsion. Was she still compelled or did that go away the moment she turned into a vampire? She was now forced to stay, wasn't it better to let her go? Give her the freedom instead of keeping her?

She was going to ask Klaus later.

After breakfast, she watched Klaus trod off after Jeri and Kol to see what they were going to do with his blood, and Bella went to Klaus' bed chambers to see if she could flip the bed back to its original position, but when she got there, it was as if nothing had happened. Even the shreds of her dress were gone and nowhere to be found. A shame, really, even if putting it back together would have looked horrible, she could have made herself a pillowcase from it.

What was she going to do now? Elijah was taking the newborn to Marcel, and she didn't know where Rebekah was. Maybe she could join Klaus and Kol in watching Jeri do whatever, but she figured with two vampires looming over her, she'd have enough eyes on her. Sighing, she couldn't believe she was actually bored. She realized how much she had relied on them to keep her busy. How much time they spent with her and how she had become aware of herself.

She needed to find herself a hobby.


	14. Bad Blood

"Huh," Jeri let out after her initial rounds of testing, unfazed by the two Originals watching her every move. At least Kol was helpful with his knowledge of witchcraft, but Klaus was pacing around like a caged animal. Nothing she couldn't handle. In fact, she'd welcome it if he'd snap her neck; she'd become more powerful and less easy to kill. She could help more people because she didn't have to rely on others to siphon off their magic.

She hated to wait for a 'what?' so she continued swiftly. "It's amazing, really. Whoever's behind this must have conjured some serious juju and destroyed a few items in the process because to the naked eye, Bella's blood is the same as Klaus'."

"That's impossible," Klaus stopped his pacing and looked at her. "You've made a mistake."

"Actually, it's not entirely impossible," Kol said as he looked at his brother. "Like Jeri said, some serious magic has been used if this is the case. My guess is that the spell used replicates your blood so she can't die. Mind you, she has been drinking from those vampires as well because they, no doubt, tried to kill her."

That gave her an idea; she hadn't attempted to do it yet, but why not? She took a drop of Bella's blood and used her magic to starve it, to nearly evaporate before she introduced her own blood. Sure, her blood was magical, but it was further removed from being close to Klaus' as Kol's would be closer and would screw with the results. The moment her blood touched the residue, a blue hue appeared and engulfed Jeri's blood before ultimately dying down, and a fresh puddle of blood remained. "Fascinating," she said as she compared it to the other samples. "Yep, it's a match."

"What does that mean?"

"Like I said a few minutes ago, Klaus, your blood is hers. Although yours is pure. Hers is not due to the additional spells used on it. No doubt some herbs, a potion, maybe. I'm going to need some more time. Like… days. Allow me to do all I can and promise me that I can get more blood from the both of you when needed."

"Very well," he said, not hiding his impatience before leveling his gaze at his younger brother. "Don't do anything you'll regret later." Klaus walked out of the room and went to look for Bella, to see how she was doing, what she was up to, but was stopped by Elijah in the courtyard.

"Have you seen Jessica, brother?" Elijah asked worriedly. "I've brought her to Marcel, but he said she took off."

"How am I supposed to know where your pet is, Elijah? I've been with Kol and the witch," Klaus said annoyed. "If you're worried that I've killed her, ask them."

"I'm not worried that you've killed her, Niklaus, I'm merely concerned for the mere mortals as Jessica hasn't been taught to control herself yet," he replied calmly. "I shall continue my search, but I wondered if you had caught a fresh scent off of her so that I know I don't have to look here."

Klaus looked at his brother, a small hint of amusement tugging at the corner of his lips. "It's not your fault she turned, Elijah. You do not owe the girl anything."

"She turned because your vampires couldn't control themselves!"

"Marcel's vampires."

"Yes, and he couldn't keep an eye on her either, this one is a crafty one, even for a new vampire. So, I shall ask again, is there a fresh scent of her's here?"

Klaus rolled his eyes at his brother and took in a deep breath. "Yes."

Elijah's eyes widened in surprise and possible concern. "Brother, please tell me you've had _her_ on vervain all this time?"

He cocked his head, processing the words and shook his head. "I should have put her on vervain right after she was assaulted, but she's with us, Elijah. What's the worst that could happen?"

"A day old red headed vampire?"

As if he was a bullet being shot out of a weapon, Klaus ran upstairs in search for his Bella. She wasn't in his room; she wasn't in hers. She wasn't in the kitchen. When he stopped at his brother again and took another whiff, he could tell that her scent and that of Jessica's were intertwined. "I'm going to kill that redhead," he growled and followed the scent out of the building.

Out. Of. The. Building.

There's no doubt that the young vampire had discovered the art of compulsion. Otherwise, Bella would have been screaming the moment she set foot out of the compound. Maybe he should have put her on vervain, but he had thought that he could trust everyone inside the building, Marcel trusted every one of his vampires and Klaus trusted Marcel. However, Jessica was a wildcard, unexpectedly turned. He had been so stupid.

"Oh, hi!" Jessica greeted him with a big smile on her face, blood dripping from the corner of her mouth. They were in a park close to the Bayou, and Klaus wasn't pleased. He could smell Bella all over the young vampire, but the girl was nowhere in sight.

"Niklaus," Elijah had caught up with him, warning him. If Jessica suffered from an untimely death, the search for Bella would be even more tedious.

"Where is she!"

"Oh, the little human? She's just fine," Jessica said, casually waving her arm. "I'm all right. Thank you for giving me a new life, though. This feels amazing, exhilarating." She sighed happily, her eyes were widened, she was obviously high on blood and Klaus knew, that time was of the essence. Then again, Bella didn't die that easily but he didn't feel comfortable enough to test that theory. "For the first time in years, life is beautiful again, and that's stupid because I'm dead now but gosh, this is amazing!" She then giggled. "Don't try to compel me, I'm on vervain. Your brother tried, but I guess I'm a good actress. Or… he could have very well been following his dick instead of his head."

"Where is she?" Oh, his fingers were itching to dig into the vampire's chest cavity and rip out her heart, although a bite would be more entertaining for him and antagonizing for her. Yes, he could follow the scent but he needed to get to Bella now. When Jessica simply giggled, he grabbed her arm and bit down on it. Yes, it was broad daylight, and he didn't care. Why the hell had they been so quick to give her a daylight ring? "Tell me where she is and I'll heal you when I get her back. Don't tell me and I have to waste precious time to find her myself and you can kiss your new found life goodbye as you'll be dead in several hours."

Jessica seemed to think for a moment as she watched the wound on her arm, and it wasn't healing. "What did you do?!"

"My brother is half vampire and half werewolf," Elijah started to explain. "A werewolf bite will certainly kill you unless you get the cure, which is property of my brother. I suggest you consider your next words wisely for he is a man of his word."

Jessica sneered. "Fuck you. I'm sure you'll hear her scream when you get closer. Music to my ears," she then sped off, leaving the two brothers in the middle of the park without any further information about the whereabouts of Bella.

"Huh," Elijah remarked as he watched in the direction the girl had run into. "You would have thought she wanted to live for a little bit longer."

Klaus let out a grunt. "I would have given her my blood, cured her and then killed her anyway," he said as he caught a whiff of Bella's scent coming from the Bayou. "The little bitch put her in the Bayou." Sure enough, the closer he got to the Bayou, the easier he picked up Bella's scent, and her sobbing. Determined to find her, he ran faster and eventually skidded to a halt in front of her.

He lifted her in his arms and pushed her hair out of her face. "I'm here, love, it's going to be alright." Klaus held her tightly as he proceeded to walk back into the direction he and Elijah came from. When she'd stop crying, he'd run them home. Then again, she felt a lot safer in the compound, and she was shaking in his arms. "I'll see you home, brother," he muttered before making sure that Bella wouldn't get hurt much on the run and spat off.

He could see the bite marks in her neck as he lowered her down to his bed and used a little of his blood to close them up. She looked far too pale for a simple panic attack, but she was also far too alert for having had a lot of blood drained from her. "Tell me what you need, love," he gently coached her. "How do you feel?" Her heartbeat was dangerously slow and that concerned him.

"I don't want to be outside ever again," she muttered as she crawled into his arms again. "It was so scary, I just woke up there, or it felt like it and it… I thought… you had left me."

"Never."

"I feel a bit woozy," she replied and sighed. She usually felt this way when one of Carlisle's vampire friends had come over and sunk their teeth in her. She knew she had been bitten already while in Klaus' care; this felt just like what happened at home, so she had been bitten again. "I think I need a cup of blood… or food…"

"I suspect you've lost a lot of blood, love," Klaus said as he recalled how Jessica was behaving. High as a kite, a young vampire's mistake. Had she attacked any other human, they wouldn't have survived. "Are you certain it's just one cup of blood that you need?"

Bella shrugged. "It's what I got from Carlisle after something like this happened, I often still felt faint after it and only got an extra bag or two when he needed me for something else."

"I thought you hated syringes?"

"I do, I drink it. It was only when he wanted things to hurry up that he gave it to me differently," she said with a shrug.

The thought of a human having to drink a cup of blood or more was disgusting. Sure, he loved blood, hell, he would have liked to drink some of Bella's, but for a human to drink blood? What would happen if he'd offer a little of his own blood? They had the same blood, why not? "Why won't you take some of mine and take as much as you need?"

"What?"

"You told me you've had vampire blood before because they made you drink it while they drained you."

"Yeah but drinking blood is quite… distasteful."

He smiled and slowly shook his head. Even in her weakened state, she still managed to scrunch up her nose. "Allow me to heal you, Bella. It's likely you needed additional blood as those other vampires weren't compatible with you." On top of that, it would hopefully also cure her of the compulsion she had been under so she'd know what she'd done, or what Jessica had done to her. That was a long shot, however.

"I don't know…" she yawned.

"Mine is fresh from the vein, tastes a lot better than bagged blood," he turned away from her as he felt his vampire visage bleed out and bit his hand. As his face turned back to normal, he offered his bleeding hand to her. "Drink."

She stared at his hand for a moment and then shrugged before gently taking his hand and drinking the blood that was pouring out.

He ran his fingers through her hair, pressing his lips to her forehead as he breathed out a sigh of relief that she hadn't turned him away as she held his hand to her mouth. "Good," he whispered softly, encouraging her to take more. The fear that he had felt, that something had truly happened to her and that he had her safely back in his arms, was catching up to him. But he fought to keep his emotions under control. He did not want to cry for it was a sign of weakness, but he could feel the tears threatening to fall as he watched her drink from him. His lips were trembling as he thought of the torture the vampire would suffer when he hunted her down.

When no more blood was flowing from Klaus' hand, she wiped her mouth and looked at him with a big smile. "Thank you." Blood still tasted disgusting, but at least it wasn't as much as a cup. She could feel how it already started to work on her body; almost as if there was a fuel lit under a pile of wood. She curled into him and sighed. "Don't blame her, I'm sure she meant nothing by it."

"While I usually appreciate your good spirits and your inability to see the bad in people, I think she was fully aware of what she did," he replied as he pulled her closer. "I could have lost you."

"I can't die from blood loss."

"I still could have lost you. And she took you outside?"

"She didn't know I am not ready to go outside."

Sighing, he listened to her heartbeat, it had slowly started to beat faster, which soothed his anger somewhat. "Get some rest, love, I'm not going anywhere."

"I actually wanted to ask-"

"You can ask me that later. Rest now."

Bella huffed as she wrapped her legs around his, and he could hear her breathing slowly become steady as her heartbeat kept picking up.

~o.O.o~

He was more afraid of letting Bella go out of his sight than before, certainly with Jessica still running around. Even now that she had been bitten by him, she could still come back for more. He was glad that Bella felt better by dinner. Her heartbeat had returned to normal, and there was more colour on her cheeks, so he took her downstairs where Kol and Jeri were still discussing their discoveries of the day.

"We found out that her blood is locked, I think that'll extend to her body in a way since blood goes everywhere. The healing factor in the blood of other vampires wouldn't work on her," Jeri said excitedly as she started to heap up her plate with chicken. "If she'd get hurt, she either has to have a blood transfusion or maybe your blood will do the trick as well since it's you she's bound to."

"I know," Klaus said with a low growl as he watched Bella put food on her plate. She'd better eat more than she usually does, he thought.

"What did we miss?" Kol said as he looked at his brothers. "Was there some excitement going on?"

"Jessica compelled Bella and took her out to the Bayou before drinking from her," Elijah explained with a pained expression on his face. "Then Klaus bit Jessica to find Bella, but the girl didn't bother telling us Bella's location."

"Oh, so she'll die soon then," Kol shrugged. "Such a pity, she'd have been perfect for you."

"Well, that doesn't have to be true," Jeri pointed out as she stabbed her chicken and cut off a piece of it. "Bella's blood is a tainted version of Klaus', but with the same unique properties as its base."

"You're saying that the bitch will live?" Klaus snarled.

"It's a possibility, yes," she said with a smirk and popped a piece of chicken in her mouth. "We're not sure about that, though. So it'll be fun to see if we're right about that."

"I'll simply rip out her heart if she lives."

"Be nice, brother," Kol smirked at him. "All is well; you got your girl back."

The witch stared at the two for a moment, something feeling out of place as she tried to place the difference in the room. "Wait, did you actually feed her your blood?" Jeri asked surprised as she fumbled a syringe out of her pocket and got out of her seat, heading straight for Bella. "How long ago was that? I need to take a sample of her blood now!"

"A couple of hours ago," Klaus replied and eyed her. "You will not take her blood at the table."

"If we wait any longer, you will have to feed her more later so that I can take it later. You know how vampire blood processes in the body. Do you want to change your mind?" she asked as she stopped and waited patiently, the plastic device tapping innocently on her thigh almost tauntingly.

Bella looked at Klaus and rolled her eyes at him as she extended her arm to Jeri and continued to eat with her other hand, not paying attention to her and the stabby thing. If she was curious, then sure, why not. She didn't like it, though. She'd never really wanted this if she thought about it. Bella only did it to satisfy Klaus' curiosity; she was fine the way she was.

"Thank you," she smiled as she was quick as she got what she wanted, taking no more than a minute before returning to her seat, passing behind Klaus. As she did, she ran her fingers over the back of his shoulder, shocking him with static and chuckled.

Kol smiled at her and shook his head. "Playing with fire," he chastised.

Jeri shrugged. "It's not as if the witch part of me dies when he kills me. In fact, it'll only become stronger, so I welcome it. It's not like you're so eager to kill me."

"Why would I kill you? You're perfect the way you are."

"Gross," Jeri said as she started to finish her plate. She had new blood to examine, to see the effects up close. It was fascinating and incredibly fun to figure out what was used. There was a great chance that only his untainted blood could heal her from the inside and that he was the only one who could turn her if she wanted to. Or if he wanted to. "How about you shut up?"

"Never," Kol grinned as he took a sip of his goblet of blood before tucking into his plate.

Bella finished her plate and decided now was a good time to ask her question about Jessica. "Can I ask something?"

"Of course," Klaus smiled at her. "You can always ask something."

"Not before, you told me to rest."

Kol snickered at that. "That's Klaus, darling, but what's on your mind?"

"Jessica."

"What about her?"

"Well, you had her tied up at the table this morning," she said, looking at Elijah. "Why?"

"For your safety as I was unable to compel her to stay."

"Yeah, see, I don't get that. Isn't that bad? Making sure she can't do anything?"

Elijah blinked, trying to follow her train of thought and failed. "I fail to see where you are going with this?"

"Trying to make people do what you want by force isn't really nice."

The older vampire smiled as he set his napkin down. "I appreciate your candor Miss Bella, however, Jessica had been quite - exuberant in her awakening. I assure you, it was quite a necessary approach, and she had agreed to the precautions before you joined us at the table. The only one I had not anticipated was a witch accompanying the family."

"Bubble, bubble, toil, and trouble," Jeri chanted. "Would you like an eye of newt with your tea dear?"

"Yeah well, other than her using stabby things on me, she hasn't taken me outside under compulsion and drank my blood and making Klaus angry for that happening," Bella said grumpily.

"Hey! These stabby things are only for your own benefits!" the witch protested. "Don't the two of you want to know what those fuckheads did to you and how it might be broken, if it can? That's what I'm trying to do. If Klaus can turn you, I'm looking into it. Sit tight Cupcake and let Klaus put some icing on you."

"But the both of you didn't even ask me if I wanted to find out. Isn't that what normal people do? Ask things first and not just get one answer when it comes to a set of people? At least make sure that people know if they're doing it because they want to or because they want to do it to make someone else happy?"

Jeri frowned as she looked to Klaus, canting her head to the side in question. "You didn't?" she questioned evenly.

"Oh," Kol sucked in a breath. "Nik's in trouble now!"

"It's my blood, not hers."

"It's her body you asshole. Her body that's been violated enough times, including by me now!" she screamed as she threw him across the room with a wave of her arm.

Bella's eyes grew wide in shock. "I'm sorry!" she quickly said as she made her way over to Klaus to make sure he was alright. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to cause strife, I'll shut up now. I'll do whatever you wish, I'm sorry, I-" Panic was rising in her chest, he wasn't angry with her, was he? Oh, she was in so much trouble now. She then looked at Jeri, her hands still on Klaus. "Please, don't hurt him even further. It's my fault. Not his."

Jeri stood as she glared at the hybrid, breathing through her nose as she attempted to keep her anger under control as she observed the unusual behavior that the girl was displaying. Pursing her lips she arched an eyebrow at him. "Are you pleased with yourself now jackass?" she hissed and walked out of the room, throwing the syringe with the blood on the ground and stepping on it. The outside doors to the compound could be heard slamming as she stormed out in her rage.

"Please, let me make up for this, please," she looked at Klaus, who had a dumbfounded but pissed off look on his face. She took a few steps back and whimpered. No, this wasn't okay. She looked at Kol and Elijah, who were looking at her, and she felt herself grow smaller and smaller or the room bigger and bigger, she wasn't sure of that. "I'm sorry," she whispered before running to her room.

"We were all under the assumption that you asked her, brother," Elijah said calmly as he pulled his brother to his feet. "And I hate to admit, the witch is right. I am more worried, however, about Bella at this point, and I suggest you make things right with her and I do hope you haven't caused permanent damage."

Kol nodded in agreement. "Yes, deal with Poppet while I find Jeri. I don't trust her out there right now with her mood. She may pick a fight with the wrong idiot, so I'm going to go try tracking her down. Drag her back kicking and screaming if I have to."

Klaus watched his brothers leave the room, and he took out his frustration on the items left on the table. Had he really made a wrong decision? Why was it so terrible of him to agree to the witch looking at his and Bella's blood without consulting her? He loved her, dearly, but ultimately, because of the blood coursing through her veins, she could be used as a weapon against him if anyone would steal her away again. It hadn't been her call. It was his.

He was going to ask his Bella for clarification if she was up for it.

When he came to her room, he found the door closed, which was strange as she never closed the door. When he listened closely, he could hear her sob and occasionally that was followed by a soft yelp, and that bothered him. "Bella?" He softly knocked on the door. "Can we talk?"

He heard some rustling of sheets and how she was taking a deep breath. "Yes." Her voice didn't sound right.

He opened the door, and he could smell blood, and it didn't take him long to find out what happened as blood pooled through her jeans. "What did you do?"

"I'm all right," she said as she looked down and quickly covered the spots with her hands. "I truly am sorry for having you get hurt."

"Let me take care of your wounds," he said gently, but when he approached her, she winced. "Bella?"

"I want to make it right. This one…" her breathing hitched again. "I didn't mean for you to get in trouble… You're right, you're absolutely right, everything of me is yours." Why would things be any different? After so many months, she had the feeling she finally saw the right Klaus Mikaelson, although from the stories heard, she shouldn't have been surprised

"Bella, that's not-"

She retrieved the knife she had brought up with her from underneath her pillow and sliced open her wrist, not even blinking. "Take it all, it's yours. Please, take it."

"Are you out of your bloody mind?" He breezed as he closed the gap between them and used some of his blood to close the cut. "Don't do that!" He tried to pay attention to the words she had just spoken but they hurt, and he didn't want to listen. Instead, he yanked the knife out of her hand and pulled her against him, keeping her there as she uncontrollably trembled.

How on Earth did things escalate so quickly? Didn't they have a nice night together? He bloody rescued her from staying in the Bayou all by herself and she had gotten her answer when she asked, what was going on? The bleeding on her legs was distracting. Her blood smelled so good, and he had been tempted to take a bite out of her the night before but…

Oh, bloody hell! He realized his big fuck up. "Oh, love," he said as he felt his heart breaking. He pulled her towards the bed with him and sat down, making sure she wasn't going anywhere. "Why must you be so innocent?" Klaus asked softly as he kissed the top of her head. "You were right to ask that question, and you weren't at fault for Jeri tossing me across the room. The both of you were right, and I am deeply ashamed of myself."

"No, no, no…" she turned around in his arms and put her arms around his neck, bringing his face closer to hers. "My question got you hurt, no, that's not good. Who am I to question your decision?"

"It's good to question my decisions, love," he said as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled at her. "I'm at fault here. Not you. Not Jeri. Me. You're right. She's right. I should have talked to you about it because I value your input. You're the only one to question whatever I do, or won't do."

"But…"

"No, listen to me," he said slowly as he shook his head. "As much as I hate to admit it, I shall have to apologize to Jeri and thank her for opening my eyes to see what I've done wrong. You must take it to heart that I want you to speak up, to speak to me when you find the reasons to do so."

"You're not mad at me?"

"No."

"But I hurt myself and-"

"I'm more angry at myself for letting that happen in the first place," he softly kissed her. "Would you like me to dress your wounds? Would you like some of my blood to heal them?"

"No."

"But Bella, you hurt yourself because of me. I cannot have that, please, allow me to take care of them," he said as he looked her in the eyes. "Please."

She slowly nodded as she crawled out of his arms and dropped her pants, revealing two deep gashes on her legs. "I'm sorry…" she whispered.

"That's alright," he bit his hand and once the blood was flowing he placed it on her wounds, one at the time. "This is my fault." Once they were closed, he grabbed a clean pair of pants for her and had her get into them before he pulled her back on the bed. "Let's relax, shall we? We've had an eventful day."


	15. Broken Dreams

_She was running. Something was chasing her, and she didn't quite know what, but it was scary. She had gotten out of the house in the middle of the night to do some stargazing, but it was then that it happened; she heard them come from the sewers outside the gates and no matter where she ran, they kept following her and every door she knocked on the property was locked._

 _Bella thought she would be safe back in the house, but she couldn't get back in as the doors were all gone. Freaking out, she tried the storm doors of the cellar, but they wouldn't budge either, and she rolled into a ball when a flash of light hit her, illuminating her and the area around her. "Don't hurt me!" She screamed. "Please, I didn't do anything wrong!"_

 _She wanted to outstretch her hands in defense, but she could feel how the grass was giving way and sucking her up. She managed to turn around and tried to crawl out of the hole she was disappearing in, but the suction was too great, and she fell through._

 _She fell right onto Carlisle's doctor chair and had somehow, in the process of falling, had lost all of her clothes. When she gave herself a proper look, she must have lost her skin too. It only hurt if she looked at it. "Let's open you up and see what makes you tick," Carlisle's cold, dead voice sounded before she saw the saw. Her eyes widened in shock when he started to saw through her body, and she managed to let out a scream._

 _This couldn't be real, but why did it feel that way?_

 _She screamed again and fell through the chair, turning upright and found herself being fastened to some cross by a big man with long blonde hair. It was dark, and a woman was chanting over a fire while she was struggling against her bonds. "No," she whimpered and managed to pull away but the man pushed her back against it, calling for Elijah to help him out. Blinking, she saw Elijah's frightened face._

" _Hold him down!"_

 _She realized that this wasn't one of her nightmares, or one of her memories turned into a nightmare, but that it was someone else's. And Elijah had something to do with it. She let out a cry for help; she didn't want to be chained up, and something was going on that she didn't quite understand. It hurt. She felt hurt. Betrayed. Angered by the betrayal, it's what kept her fighting against the bonds. She needed to escape. "Please, don't let them do this to me!" She cried out, hearing Klaus' voice instead._

" _Do it now, boy! Now!" the man ordered Elijah, and she could feel Elijah push her up and against the cross. His strength was making it unable for her to escape, his eyes showing nothing but sadness._

" _Help me," she begged him. "Please, don't… help me."_

 _Elijah showed hesitation then but kept her on the cross. When the woman at the fire stopped chanting, she could feel a pain in her body and she fell through the cross, through the earth and landed in the basement of the house, surrounded by the Royal Guard, and a smirking Jacob._

" _No!" She screamed, trying to crawl away as the men's hands were all over her. One stifling her cries with their manhood, another one was tugging on her hair. She felt being split open from below when someone forced themselves inside of her with their shaft and a fist on the other side._

 _She was dreaming. She was having a nightmare. She had to wake up. Another sense of panic overwhelmed her as she blacked out for a moment from the violence of the men before she fell through the world, light as a feather, a familiar warmth enveloping her and guiding her to safety._

When she finally woke up, she felt tears on her face, and she realized that she wasn't the only one crying. "I had hoped you never had to go through that as I have…" Klaus murmured as he ran his fingers through her hair. "I am so sorry, love, so sorry." She had been screaming in her sleep, and he had been unable to rouse her. Against his better wishes, Klaus had slipped into her dream, watching things unfold for her, trying to pull her back whenever she fell through a nightmare.

When she landed in a memory of his, the one where his mother placed the curse on him, he had hoped it had been short lived, but she had experienced it all, just like him. Of course, he could have told her that it was nothing but a nightmare. But like the others, it would have felt so real to her, he didn't have the heart to tell her that it wasn't real.

At first he thought it was strange that she was having one of his recurring nightmares, but then he realized that she had taken some of his blood that day. Sometimes it was quite the inconvenience to be a thousand-year-old supernatural being.

The moment she realized she was in a nightmare and needed to wake up, was the moment where he could pull her to safety, but he was afraid that more damage had been done than good. "Are you alright, Bella?"

She nodded as she looked at him. "Why are you crying?" she asked softly and reached out to dry his tears with her sleeve.

"When you didn't wake up from your nightmare, I decided to join you," he admitted, not daring to look at her. "I went into your head to see if I could pull you out… I'm sorry you had my nightmare, love."

"That was yours?"

He nodded. "It's a nightmare I was fully awake for at the time. A memory."

"Elijah really did that to you?"

He nodded again.

"What were they doing to you?"

He rubbed his eyes and sighed. He didn't particularly like to talk about the whole experience; it was a long time ago, and the curse has long since broken. "Binding my werewolf side with a curse, but not to worry, I finally managed to break it a while ago."

"Who were the other two people?"

"My mother and father."

She blinked at him before putting her arms around him and kissed his head. "I'm so sorry," Bella whispered. "They weren't very nice."

He couldn't help but let out a small chuckle, her choice of words still fascinated him. "No, they were not."

"And you still trust Elijah after that?"

"It's been a long time ago, but yes, I've never fully trusted him after that. You see, when you get to live as long as we have, more often than not you find yourself forgiving someone for their transgressions against you, only to keep the peace. Especially when you can't be killed. It makes life a lot easier that way," he softly explained to her, enjoying sitting like this, in her arms for a change. "We always promise to be better, and it will be better for a while before things turn around again."

"What kind of stage are you in now?"

"We've reached an impasse and are now courteous. Only time will tell when things will get rough again," He looked at her face, giving her the once over. "Are you alright?"

"It was an awful dream," she said with a nod. "And some scared me, and I felt incredibly betrayed when I landed in yours… but I'm alright," Bella replied as she played with a small strand of his hair. "I am sorry that you had to go through such a traumatic experience."

"You're sorry? Bella…"

"No, I mean it," she said as she softly kissed his lips. "You're too good to be tormented like that."

He smiled wickedly at that. "Oh, you have no idea, love, you have no idea!"

~o.O.o~

Elijah was in the dining room the next morning for breakfast when Klaus and Bella joined him. "Hello, brother," Klaus greeted him chipper. He was glad that after Bella's nightmare, they both had the opportunity to catch up on some dreamless sleep. After the happenings of the day before, she was now fully restored and back to her usual self. For which Klaus was grateful.

He was also grateful for not having completely screwed things up for himself with her.

There was some commotion in the courtyard that he and Elijah shifted their attention to while Bella had zeroed in on the pancakes that Klaus had specifically wanted on the breakfast table as he knew she loved them so much. After having been out all night, his brother and Jeri looked exhausted as Kol carried in the vampire that had caused so much trouble.

"Do I smell waffles?" Jeri immediately perked up as a whiff of the waffles wafted her way. "Oh!" She said giddily as she pushed through the two brothers and joined Bella at the table. The girl was immediately shying away, and she realized that she had to fix that. But breakfast first.

Kol dropped Jessica's unconscious form to the floor at Elijah's feet with a big smile on his face. "Congratulations, brother, you are now officially a daddy," he said as he pat his shoulder. "I had to save her from Marcel because he wanted to kill her for what she did. I know that you think that everyone is worth saving, so he agreed not to, as long you took care of her. Good luck."

Elijah peered at the vampire at his feet and turned around to say something to his brother, but was at a loss. Instead, he huffed, dragged the out cold vampire into the room and made sure he could keep an eye on her so he could snap her neck again.

"Oh, pancakes, that must be brilliant, poppet! Can I have one? Or shall I wait until you're done, seeing as you're hogging the entire platter?"

Bella looked at her stack and then at the shape Kol was in, slightly dirty and fatigued. She lifted up one of the pancakes and placed it on his plate. "One."

"Aw, how about another?"

"You asked for one," Bella simply stated before pouring the rest of them with maple syrup and icing sugar and continued to eat.

"Alright then," Kol said as he turned to Jeri. He didn't even bother asking her when he grabbed a waffle off the plate she was hogging. In return, she stabbed his hand with a fork, causing Bella to flinch and pull her plate out of harm's way. "Hey!"

"Leave her be and keep your filthy paws off my waffles," she said as she reached for the maple syrup. "Have some eggs. Or you know, blood."

"I already drank, darling, thank you."

"Then don't take our food."

"May I enquire why Jessica's all banged up?" Elijah spoke up as he looked at Kol and his… floozie witch as he returned to the table.

"Anger management," Kol shrugged. "Be happy she left her alive and that she focused her anger on her and not on regular humans. That would have been a mess you'd have to clean up!"

"Me?"

"You always clean up our messes, don't you, 'Lijah?" Kol smirked at his brother. "What does it feel like? Like changing our nappies?"

"That's enough, Kol," Klaus shot at his brother, watching Bella closely as she ate. For the first time in a very long time, she was eating like a regular person, devouring the not-so-modest pile of pancakes as if she hadn't had food in weeks.

"So, that's your duties? To clean up their messes? Wow," Jeri said to Elijah. "What about your own? Because I had to go and fetch your vampire, Elijah. The one you are responsible over."

He stared at her affronted at her accusation. "I am not! I took her to Marcel the morning after."

"Perhaps, but had you given her to Marcel when it happened, your hands would be clean. Instead, you decided to take her to your room, making you responsible for her and you fucked up," she pointed out calmly before she chewed on her waffle. "Marcel didn't want to deal with her, and especially after what happened here, with Bella. That would put a target squarely on him. It's your mess. You're going to teach this young vamp the ropes."

"Unless I kill her first," Klaus growled lowly. "This time I'll do it right."

The witch glanced at him and shook her head. "No. She is his responsibility, but I do agree. The next time she fucks up epically like this, I will join you in ripping her apart. No matter how I feel about the situation, she was treated like shit by this douchebag. She reacted like any newborn, emotional vampire would when betrayed by someone they believed would guide them in a new life. Even if they conned their way into it, she lashed out."

Elijah let out a sigh. "Very well. I shall take care of her."

"Keep her away from Bella," Klaus shot at his brother. "I'm not going to put her on vervain just because your young vampire can't resist temptation."

"Hey!" Bella looked at Klaus. "What is this vervain? Will that stop her from going after me?"

"Not necessarily, but it would stop her, and any other vampire, from compelling you."

"I want."

"Sorry," Jeri said apologetically. "Can't. With your permission, Bella, I'd like to continue the testing of your and Klaus' blood, now mostly to satisfy my curiosity and not to help that asshole. I'd rather have it untainted, but I can use magic to keep her away from you, restrict her movements through the building."

Bella looked at her and thought for a moment. "Are you sure?"

"Would you like me to throw your boyfriend through the room again?"

"No!" Bella said shocked. "Don't ever do that again!"

"I'm sure," Jeri smirked as she looked at Klaus. "I hope you've learned your lesson."

"I have," Klaus replied evenly. "However, I do not appreciate being taught a lesson on the expense of Bella. Do you have any idea what I had to walk into after your… display of power?"

"Kol has told me some of her history, not in full detail like you all seem to know about, and it's not my business. But from what I saw, I have an idea," Jeri said and then looked at Bella. "And I'm truly sorry for what happened yesterday, but I'm not responsible for your actions nor for what has happened to you in the past."

"What did she do, Nik?" Kol asked, still staring at the fork in his hand.

"She had a knife on her!"

"Oh," Kol sighed, slightly shaking his head as he finally pulled the fork out of his hand and watched in fascination as it healed up again. It never grew old. "We need to install a metal detector for her to walk through."

"However," Klaus continued as he walked over to a dresser and grabbed a book out of it. "You were right, and I hope you can accept my apology as Bella has done." He handed Jeri a book. "This is the witch Rebecca's grimoire. Maybe there's something of use to you in there. It's yours."

She looked at the item in surprise, feeling the magic that it held flow through her hands and into her body. She could most certainly use it. She then looked up to Klaus and nodded. "Apology accepted and thank you." Who knew that the hybrid had the ability to admit that he was wrong and do something nice? "But for future reference, Klaus? If you want to have a long lasting relationship with someone, you need to learn how to communicate."

"Yes, I figured that out, thank you, Jeri," Klaus smiled at her before taking his seat again.

Rebekah sauntered into the room and took her place at the table after kicking against Jessica to make sure she was indeed unconscious. "Oh, lookie, can I kill the bitch now?"

"No, Rebekah you can not," Elijah shot at her. "We'll see if she wants to even out and if she doesn't, I'm afraid you'll have to get in line."

"Ah, why am I always last!"

~o.O.o~

Klaus found himself wide awake a few nights later, Bella blissfully curled up against him, all tuckered out, but he couldn't sleep. Kol and Jeri were being far too loud for his taste. What if their constant thumping would wake Bella? Maybe he should go over and tell them off but he didn't want to wake Bella. Instead, he tried to block the sound from his ears. But that didn't work.

He was tired. He had been on the hunt for a couple of days to figure out which regular vampires had been hanging out with the Cullens. Who had hurt his Bella when they did and had managed to get most of them so far, he was still a few short. And they were all male, some were even saying there was a female vampire involved at one point, but no one dared to speak her name.

He needed sleep. He felt pity for Elijah, as Kol and Jeri had a room close to his and only hoped that he would be able to save his own sanity.

Klaus quietly sat up when he heard the door open and blinked when he saw Kol enter, followed by the witch. "What is going on?"

"We need your sofa, can we sleep on your sofa? Please?" Kol begged as he walked into the bedroom. "That sex is tiring as fuck! Hell, it even makes us tired and seem lazy compared to it!"

"So that's not you?"

"Obviously, Nik," his brother rolled his eyes at him.

"Then Rebekah-"

"Oh no no no no no," Kol sat on the edge of the bed, careful not to disturb Bella in her sleep. "Rebekah already took off."

Jeri had already found the couch and after wrapping her in her blankets, she had curled up and fallen asleep again, mumbling something about Rebekah seeking refuge at Marcel's.

"Then who?"

"It's Elijah, brother," Kol visibly shuddered and rubbed the back of his neck to smooth out the tiny hairs that were standing up. "Elijah and Jessica have the wildest sex ever. I'm pretty sure it's tantric and then some."

"That…" Klaus was at a loss for words.

"Exactly. So, we're taking the sofa. Don't snore." Kol got up from the bed and joined Jeri on the sofa. "Good night!"

Klaus let out a growl as he laid down again.

"Shush! I'm already working on a spell to soundproof his room when we wake up again but please, let me sleep!" Jeri groaned as she hit Kol in the face with her elbow as she turned around. "I need my beauty sleep."

"No you-"

"Shh!"


	16. Coming Down

Kol slowly walked into the breakfast room, whistling and a spring in his step as he was followed by Jeri with an equally large smile on her face. Klaus blinked at them. "I see that my sofa sleeps well?"

"Oh, no, it's horrible, but I've taken my revenge on Jessica now that the vervain is out of her system," he grinned as he sat down in his chair and pointed to the courtyard through the open doors. "Any minute now."

"Come on, Jessica, let's go and get breakfast," Elijah sighed as he tiredly rubbed his eyes. "We can have a nap afterward."

'Nap?' Klaus mouthed to Kol, who shrugged in return. "I guess she wore him out, quite a feisty one."

"No!" Jessica whined. "Elijah, don't take me across the courtyard, the floor is lava!"

"No, it's not."

"Yes, it is!" She screeched as he tried to pull her with him. "No! The floor is lava, and the demons will get us, look!" she pointed at her shadow. "Look! Elijah!"

"Oh for the love of God, what has gotten into you?"

Klaus snickered as he looked at his brother. "Well done, Kol."

"I did nothing, brother," Kol said innocently. "Apart from taking care of our entertainment this morning. Speaking of entertainment, where is our little Bella?"

"She's sleeping in; I didn't have the heart to wake her this morning," Klaus said as he kept watching the scene before them. Elijah was trying to get Jessica across the courtyard, and she kept resisting. He was wondering how long it would take for Elijah to only snap her neck or take the other corridor instead of the short cut. "She hasn't been herself lately; I think I shall stay home today instead of going after those who have hurt her."

"I know what we could do," Kol reached for a piece of toast and, like Klaus kept his eyes on Elijah and Jessica. This was a real life cartoon, and it was fantastic. "Show her a little bit of childhood fun."

"Kol, we're too old for that."

"No, we're not, brother. Fun. Like… do you remember us making little wooden huts in the woods where we played or hid from Father? How about we make a blanket fort for Bella, and serve her tea in it. I'm almost certain she's never done that before."

"Oh," Jeri smiled widely. "I'm so up for that!"

"Come on, Nik, let your inner child out and have some fun," Kol teased him before grabbing another piece of toast to nibble on.

"I don't think she's feeling well Kol, why do you believe that something silly as a blanket fort will lift her spirits?"

"Well, I don't know Nik, short of feeding her your blood again, we can't actually get a doctor in here to check her over now can we?" Kol shot at him. "Get her out of her head. Do something unexpected and silly!"

Klaus sighed as he turned his gaze away from the courtyard as Elijah had decided to snap Jessica's neck for the time being. He took a sip of his tea and ran his hand through his hair. "Very well, a blanket fort it is."

"Great! Just get her down for lunch, and let us handle the rest," he smiled widely at his brother before turning around too and continued his breakfast. When Elijah finally got to the table, he watched him drop Jessica to the floor. "Trouble in paradise, brother?" He smirked.

"Whatever you've done, reverse it now!" Elijah hissed as he sat down.

"What? Now? But she's got her neck snapped! By you!"

"Kol!"

"Fine," he said with a shrug. "We're going to make a blanket fort anyway."

~o.O.o~

The next day, Klaus went back to hunting. It wasn't as if he needed to do it, but he wanted to. Every single bastard who ever laid a finger upon his Bella was going to suffer a long, painful death. Or from a single heart extraction, he wasn't quite sure about it yet. It did mean that he had to leave Bella alone for a night or two. He had to go to Los Angeles where it was rumored one was hiding out and a handful in Seattle, but he'd be done after that. He could go home, and prepare for the moment the Cullens would come and try and take her away.

Kol was accompanying him, itching to cause some mischief, and Elijah and Rebekah would remain behind. Rebekah was going to tend to Bella, which was fine by Klaus as Bella preferred her over his brother anyway. Of course, Elijah had to comment on how rare it was for him to leave his home to hunt things down in a different city.

It wasn't uncommon. Klaus simply never had enough reasons to step outside his comfort zone. Even while on the run from Michael, he never ventured further out than necessary. But he'd do anything for Bella, and to make sure that those vampires would never hurt her again was one thing. A mere thirst for revenge on her behalf. And a sport.

And yes, he felt a little funny while he was away from Bella, but he decided to use that feeling to hurry things along to get back to her. If he continued to be a slave of the magical bond between her and him, he wouldn't be going anywhere without her until the sad day that she might perish. The knowledge that she was now safe with his siblings and a powerful witch in his absence was enough - for now. They all cared for her deeply to defend her from anyone, including from him, and he wouldn't want it any other way.

Bella realized that this would be the first nights without Klaus in the building since he had taken her in. She felt quite strange about it, she couldn't describe it, it was as if a hole in her heart was forming the second he stepped outside as she knew he'd be gone for at least 36 hours. Two nights. Two whole nights.

She wasn't a whole lot unsafer; Rebekah and Elijah were still around, and so was Jeri. After Klaus had left, Bella had taken up a spot outside the room Jeri was in, and occasionally she could hear her cry out in frustration. Bella wondered what frustrated her so much, what was she doing? Was Elijah annoying her?

Bella blinked at her next thought. What if they were having sex, and she was listening in? Oh, that would be horrendous! Pale as a sheet, she moved away from the room and headed to her own. Without Klaus, she didn't want to be in his study. The thought of Elijah having sex with Jeri was unbelievable, Jeri would never do that to Kol, would she? She wasn't too sure about Elijah. Despite him always being dressed up, she suspected that he had a naughty side, even if he was having endless fun with Jessica in the evening.

Oh, that was so gross. Bella shuddered as she sat on her bed and wrapped her blanket around her. If she'd go to sleep, would Klaus come home sooner? Probably not, who was she fooling?

As she had figured for herself a week ago; she needed to find herself a hobby to keep herself occupied. Could sleeping be a hobby? Because she had felt tired for a few days now, and it was getting harder and harder to pretend she wasn't tired. Or dizzy. She didn't understand why, though, she was eating healthily, and she slept quite long hours and yet, she still felt off.

Falling on her bed, she stared up at the ceiling and shivered. It felt as if someone was using a doctor's knife to slice her chest cavity. She knew the feeling because Carlisle often did it when he wanted to play with her insides, see if the introduction of foreign elements would have an effect on them on the outside. He was crazy like that.

More and more, she came to realize that what everyone had been saying about her life before the Mikaelsons was true. The Cullens had been very wrong when it came to treating her, and they were insane. Klaus and his family had been nothing but kind to her, understanding and patient, even if Bella didn't deserve it. It was unbelievable as she made a lot of mistakes over the months she'd been at their house. They treated her as an equal, nothing less. In fact, they treated her better than an equal, and that was terrifying, she didn't deserve it. All she was doing was to be. Existing. Breathing air. No one deserved to be treated better for that.

She had landed from hell straight in heaven, and it was the best. She felt guilty for not being a productive member of the family. If she even was a member of the family. She was with Klaus, his unofficial girlfriend as he'd never asked her, and it simply happened but was she truly a part of them? A weak human?

The sudden feel of nausea overwhelmed her, and she barely made it to the bathroom to throw up. This had happened before, a couple of days earlier when Klaus had gone for the first time. He'd just been in New Orleans as a handful of vampires he was hunting was in town, and this sucked. Even when there was nothing for her to throw up, she kept going until she felt exhausted.

This had to stop.

She rinsed her mouth, and while she was hugging her blanket, she made her way back to Jeri's room and knocked on the door. "Jeri?"

"Go away, Bella," Jeri's voice sounded. She seemed agitated.

"Jeri." Bella knocked on the door again.

"No!" she yelled.

"Jeri."

"Go away, Bella before I… I swear to God… fucking… just leave!"

Bella sighed. "Fine. I just wanted to offer you some of my blood," she muttered and turned around to walk away again. "Good luck."

"Wait, what?" The door opened, and Jeri almost pulled Bella into the room. "Seriously? Can I have fresh blood to play with? That would help so much! The grimoire is great, and I think that I've narrowed it all down, but the point is to test it, isn't it? And since I only have an old sample of your blood…"

"I think you've had enough coffee," Bella replied calmly as she pushed her arm through the opening of the blanket and nodded towards the empty cups on the table.

"No, I could use more," Jeri said as she grabbed a clean syringe, only then noticing that Bella looked like a sheet, and she was wearing a blanket. "Are you okay? You look a little pale."

"I'm fine," Bella said with a wince when the stabby thing pierced her skin. "Typical 'Klaus leaves the building' symptoms. Nothing to worry about."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Okay, if you're sure," Jeri slapped a band-aid on Bella's arm. "There, all done. Thank you for volunteering your blood."

Bella slowly nodded. "Have you figured out how the bonding thing works, between Klaus and me? I mean, not that I'm complaining, but if I feel like this every time he leaves…"

"It's not a bond between mates. Or you know, soul mates linked together through blood," she explained as she shook the vial and placed it on the table. "Or werewolf mates. You won't die if he does."

"I think it's the other way around," she said with a slight smile on her face.

"Let's just say, at a hormonal level, you're not bonded. It's likely one of the spells that have been used to create that potion you took. I haven't figured that out yet; the powers aren't actually cooperating and without Kol, I have less magic to draw from."

"You could ask Rebekah or Elijah to sit with you?" Bella offered.

"Ugh, no thanks, I don't particularly like them."

"Do you like anybody else other than Kol?"

"Sure I do," Jeri said with a shrug. "I don't know. I really like you right now because you brought me some fresh blood to work with?"

A sense of pride swelled inside of her. Jeri was pleased with her. "If you need more, I'm in my room," Bella smiled at her, deciding to swing by the kitchen first to get herself a cup of tea, although she was confident that the people working in the kitchen would kick her out. Because they would bring her the cup if she wanted one.

~o.O.o~

It was frustrating that they had destroyed her faucet from turning too hot to burn her because all she wanted was to draw herself a hot bath and warm her bones. Was she getting sick? Like the flu that she had seen on the shows that Kol and Rebekah had shown her?

She shuffled to Klaus' study and his bathroom but found his faucet having been sabotaged as well. Letting out a snort, she decided to stop finding one that still worked correctly and headed back to her room so she could soak. She'd just have to refill her bath with the water whenever it cooled down, not a problem.

She could ask Rebekah, but she'd say that her own bathroom was perfectly fine. And it was. The water was warm, just perfect for her, but Bella needed something hotter. She didn't want to scald herself because Klaus wouldn't like it, but she needed heat. Would she dare to ask Jeri? Surely she'd be okay with it, considering Bella had given her blood earlier that day?

Making her way over to Kol and Jeri's room, Bella was surprised to see the door open, and when she peeked around the corner, she saw Jeri lounge on the couch and watch television. "Jeri?" Bella asked with a knock on the door.

"Hey! You want to join? I'm watching Toe The Line, so cheesy, but such great entertainment!"

Bella slowly entered into her and Kol's domain. "I was actually wondering if you still have full control over the faucet in your bathroom, you know, the one that comes with the bath?"

"Of course I do, why wouldn't I?"

She smiled at that. "Because I have a habit of sometimes still punishing myself and stuff, they fixed mine and Klaus' to an average temperature that can't get any hotter than a particular temperature… but I'm freaking cold. I just want a soak in a hot steamy bath."

"Oh, I gotcha, come on," Jeri got off the couch and led Bella into the bathroom. "Those Mikaelsons mean well," she said as she plugged the bath and opened the faucet. "Granted, I don't want you to scorch yourself, but make it as hot as you think you can handle and I'll check and see if it's not too hot, alright?"

Bella smiled gratefully. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

"No worries," Jeri smiled at her. "They forget that occasionally, we mere mortals do need our hot baths and that you have a strong will. I'm sure you would be able to handle mixing your water by now and not abuse it."

She nodded as she felt the temperature of the water. She opened the hot one a little further and was then satisfied. "I won't open it any further."

"Good. Now, enjoy, use whatever product of mine that you want," Jeri closed the bathroom door when she left.

Bella stripped out of her clothes and let the blanket fall on the floor as well before getting in and letting out a sigh of relief. This was good. This was warm and heaven. She let the water heat her bones for a few moments before reaching for one of the bottles that said 'lavender' and poured a few drops in. While she had used a bar of soap at the Cullens if she was allowed to wash without any supervision, she had quickly gotten used to using the products that Rebekah and Camille had bought her. She liked to smell nice.

When the water started to cool, she added some more hot water and closed her eyes. Could she stay in this warmth forever? She wanted to.

" _Will it die?"_

 _Bella looked up to the never aging Edward and Carlisle before looking down at her hands that were strapped to something. She couldn't move her legs either, but she was focused on her hands. They were small._

 _When the contraption she was on started to lower her into god-knows-what, she felt how she begun to panic. She knew exactly what was going on. Carlisle and Edward being cruel; this didn't serve a purpose other than to have Bella end up in agony. And she wasn't allowed to respond. The mini version of her wasn't permitted to answer as the water slowly engulfed her body, cold._

 _Bella shivered as she tried to break free, but she couldn't move. It was a miracle that she could shiver at all. She attempted to open her mouth to scream, even though she was taught not to. She didn't want to go through this again. Not again._

 _She managed to open her mouth and only breathed in water, only her nose was above the water now, and as she panicked, she started to swallow it. Cold, cold water, chilling her body even further now that it was inside._

" _No, we need her cold, that's all," Carlisle's voice sounded. "She's getting there."_

 _Her body shivered and started to tingle. If she weren't continuously breathing in water in her panicked state, it would have been a nice sort of tingle. She couldn't close her mouth anymore, her body made it impossible for her to do so as it was submerged, and she needed more air than what was coming through her nose; which, despite it being above the water, was also mostly water._

 _Her lungs were starting to burn._

" _Look, she's already paler than when we've first started."_

 _Feeling cold wasn't new to her, she walked around without clothes and on bare feet. She slept on the floor. She was being touched by cold hands every single day. The only time she felt some heat on her skin was when she was sitting in front of the window. She was fortunate that she hadn't reached the age for Edward yet._

 _She couldn't think anymore. The longer she stayed in the water, the more difficult it became for her to think. She couldn't move anymore, and she had given up on breathing. The only thing she could wish for now was death._

" _That's enough, get her out of there."_

 _The contraption lifted her out of the bath she was in, but other than that, she didn't move. The bright lights were hurting her eyes and the last thing she remembered before passing out was that Carlisle had his doctor's knife in his hand._

 _Bella remembered the first thing she noticed when she woke up; a huge scar across her side and stomach sutured up. It was curious how it wasn't on her body now that she was older. I'm dreaming, she thought. I'm having a nightmare, and I'm in a bath!_

"Easy," Jeri's voice sounded as Bella was being pulled out of the bath, coughing up water and a towel wrapped around her. "Just breathe."

Bella put her head between her legs as she coughed and hated herself for getting a nightmare in the bath with Jeri in the other room.

"That was some bad dream, huh?" she crooned as she rubbed Bella's back. "I'm sorry I didn't get to you sooner, I should have run to you as soon as I felt the disturbance."

"Thanks," Bella breathed as she wrapped the towel closer around her. "I'm sorry."

"Stop saying you're sorry when things happen beyond your control," Jeri chastised her, causing Bella to wince slightly. "You dozed off in the bath, that could have happened to anyone. Sucks to be you when a nightmare comes along."

Bella shivered and nodded. "Thank you," she shakily got to her feet, unable to shake her nightmare off and gathered her clothes. "I'll go to my room now."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes."

"Okay," she pulled the plug on the bath and followed Bella as she slowly walked to the door. Something wasn't right, but if the girl was going to be stubborn about it, she wasn't going to push. "You know where to find me."

Bella nodded again and went back to her room. She dug through her closet to find the comfiest and warmest clothes and layered up before crawling into bed, tugging the covers tightly. She was just sick. There was no need to cause for alarm. The nightmare had only made it worse because she now felt colder than ever.

Maybe it was a good thing that Klaus wasn't home; he didn't have to see her sick. Coughing up some remaining water, she sat back up again. She never got sick at the Cullens. Well, she did, but she usually got better fast, the moment she became ill. Because it was usually from one of Carlisle's experiments. She wasn't being experimented on now, was she? No, Jeri had only withdrawn some blood, and that's it. Nothing else. And she'd been nice to her for the bath.

"Stop being so paranoid," she told herself as she laid back down and closed her eyes. She was going to be fine without Klaus home. She'd be better before he returned. "And that's an order," she muttered sleepily as she shivered. "Go to sleep."


	17. Point of No Return

" _Edward, what did you do?!" Rosalie screeched as Bella was being brought before her and Carlisle. Rosalie didn't look all too pleased, but Bella felt fine. Super fine, if she had to be honest._

" _I didn't do anything and watch your tongue, sister," he countered and nearly threw Bella onto the table, causing her to giggle. "Or do you want to follow Jasper and Alice to the cells?"_

 _Rosalie dropped her head. "My apologies, Prince Edward. I shall make my leave while you and King Carlisle will look after my daughter."_

 _Bella didn't want Rosalie to leave. If she was going to be left alone with the King and Prince, bad things were going to happen, but she felt fine now, who cared? Was Edward going to feed her again? She had loved the small, round things she had found underneath his pillow after his night with one of the women of the compound. She wasn't of age yet, and Edward had needs. Needs Bella couldn't wait to satisfy._

" _We need to pump her stomach," Carlisle said as he grabbed a hose and opened Bella's mouth, shoving it down her throat without hesitation. It burned, and Bella wanted to gag, but she'd been taught not to. She could take this. "How irresponsible of you, Edward."_

" _You said to keep it there, this was all a test for her. She's still too curious. I can't have her like this."_

" _Don't worry," he attached something at the end of the hose and Bella could feel how her stomach started to feel funny. How the hose hummed and how there was water coming out of it before it got sucked out again. "We'll just leave her here for a couple of hours, she'll be fine, the drugs will be out of her system soon."_

 _Would she? She could barely breathe as it was, and she was fully conscious._

 _Oh, she was having a nightmare again, wasn't she?_

She woke up, startled and gasping for air, almost as she still could feel the hose in her throat. She needed to throw up. Scrambling out of bed, she managed to reach the bathroom and threw up. As she had a nearly empty stomach, it was mostly something slimy and something red. Metallic tasting. Blood.

Bella remembered that after the incident her nightmare was from, she had to throw up but had to swallow it because she wasn't allowed to. She could vividly remember the taste of her own blood as the hose had done some damage to her throat that only went away after a couple of weeks.

With last night's incident in the bathtub and now waking up like this she couldn't help but wonder if she was cursed somehow, to relive things that had happened to her in the past. If so, she didn't want it.

She did feel better than the night before so she fixed herself up, shed some of the extra layered clothes and decided to join everyone for breakfast. Despite her not wanting to eat but only wished to drink tea, she was going to force herself to have something because she doubted that her stomach would like to suffer through another round what she just suffered.

"Good morning," she greeted Jeri and Rebekah as she sat down in her usual chair and poured herself some tea.

"Morning," Jeri replied with a small smile. "You certainly look better than last night."

"I feel better."

"Good, because I was just filling Rebekah in about what happened."

"I was cold, I fell asleep in your bath and had a nightmare."

"Should I call Nik to come back?" Rebekah asked worried as she looked at Bella. "He'd want to know this."

"No, why? I feel fine now." She grabbed a pancake and started to eat it, but not quite liking the taste of it. It tasted like mud, and it didn't slide down her throat that well, however, she was going to soldier on. "I don't think he'll appreciate it to be called back only because I wasn't feeling so well last night."

"You know he'd come back in an instant."

"Exactly and that's not necessary."

She had to blink when Elijah and Jessica came into the room as for a moment; it looked as if it were Carlisle and Esme. That was ridiculous, of course, they weren't here, not as far as they were aware. She swallowed the remaining mud pancake away with her tea and was glad that it had only been a flash. _I'm cursed_ , she thought.

If this was going to happen every time Klaus went away, out of New Orleans, she was going to go with him. She was wondering if he was suffering the same. "Have you heard from them?"

"Of course not," Rebekah replied as she took a sip of her freshly poured blood. "They're probably having too much fun to send us a message. I was thinking of inviting Cami over today, what do you say, Bella? The four - five - of us to have a pamper day."

"Oh, I'm out," Jeri groaned. "No pampering and all girl bonding shit. Nope."

Bella wanted to say that she was going to join Jeri instead, but Rebekah was faster. "Nope, you're staying."

"And here I thought that maybe Bella would find it interesting to see me work. I get the feeling that she hasn't been instructed much about witches."

"She hasn't," Rebekah sulked. "Witches are… a convenience."

"Ha!" Jeri snorted and looked at Bella. "Don't worry Bella, you'll love it, magic is actually very pretty when not used to figure out someone else's mess."

~o.O.o~

After supplying Jeri another sample of her blood because the witch was 'curious', she entertained her with some beautiful spells with lovely colors. She even had one to write on the wall with, and that was fun. Of course, Bella was ridiculously human, but it had been fun to watch.

Bella knew that Kol loved magic for what it was, beautiful and fun. He had told her about his human life and his second shot at it, and even though he missed it terribly, he was grateful that he didn't have to die again. Or at least had a better chance of defying death in his original body. He liked to have fun, and Bella could tell that Jeri was the same way. They were perfect for each other.

And it was a good thing Jeri was around, she wasn't as careful with Bella as the Mikaelsons. Had Bella gone to Rebekah to ask for a hot bath, she would have said no, but Jeri had shared her bathroom. She wasn't made out of porcelain; she's been through a lot more than a simple too hot shower - should she ever shower that hot again. It wasn't needed. Not anymore. Or was it? She wasn't quite sure.

But she liked Jeri because of that. That didn't mean that she was still afraid of her for the same reason.

"Oh, that's interesting," Jeri said after two hours of testing and entertaining the human girl. "Well, not interesting, but potentially dangerous. Are you sure you're okay?"

Bella blinked at her. "I'm just suffering from Klaus withdrawal."

Jeri smiled at that. "I get it that you're smitten with him, and that's cute, but are you sure you're okay?"

Bella shrugged as she thought for a moment. She felt as if she was being stabbed with a million stabby things reminding her of the many times Carlisle stuck her with them, and there was a little bit of nausea, but she felt fine. "Yes."

Jeri let out a frustrated sigh. "Look, if I'm going to figure out what the fuck they did to you, you need to be honest with me. Tell me what you feel. Your recent blood looks like it's falling apart, as if it's deteriorating. Klaus' blood is out of your system now. His blood, not the tainted version you have. Your blood seems to be fighting to be separated, but that's impossible since it's your blood."

"I don't understand."

"Imagine a slice of bread. Now soak it in water. It'll soak it all up but becomes soggy and not the same. That's what's happening to your blood," she explained and then eyed her again. "So do not tell me you feel fine, surely you must feel the effects."

"I-"

"Bella, it's crucial, alright? From the looks of this, this happened almost overnight."

"I'm cursed."

"Yes, that's obvious."

Bella blinked at that, she knew? "I- it's nothing, really. Minor things. My dreams, they're getting more real as if they're a memory, and I wake up feeling as if it had just happened."

"Okay," she turned to the Grimoire. "I think I've seen a variation of that in here, somewhere. Just keep me posted when things change."

Bella hopped off the table and nodded behind Jeri's back. Surely it wasn't that important; she just wanted something to do. To make sure Klaus would get pissed off and kill her so she'd evolve. That was it. "I'll be in my room, I'm going to the kitchen first to get something to eat."

"Yeah, sure," Jeri replied absentmindedly as she kept eyeing the book and the blood.

After picking up some cold pancakes from the kitchen and a cup of warm tea, Bella made her way to her room but decided to go to Klaus' study. Even though he wasn't there, the fireplace was alight, and she felt cold again. She carefully placed her food in front of the fireplace and went looking for her blanket on the couch.

She smiled at that; it was her blanket. He had gotten it for her for their late nights talking, and as she wrapped it around her on her way over to the warmth, she could smell him on it. She sat there for a while, munching on her pancakes and realizing that her tea had turned cold. Drinking it anyway, she then made her way to the couch and laid down for a nap. It was nowhere near bed time yet, she still needed to have dinner and then be awake for a few more hours, but she felt tired.

And guilty.

She shouldn't have eaten the food or drank the tea, she hadn't even asked permission yet to get it, would Elijah or Rebekah be mad at her? What about Jeri? It wasn't as if Jeri had anything to say about it, she was an outsider, just like Bella was. Jeri would have said 'go for it', Bella knew that much.

She had it so good here, why was she trying to self-sabotage herself?

She pulled the blanket over her head as if she was trying to block out her thoughts.

" _What did we say about hiding?" Rosalie's kind voice sounded. "You can't do this, Bella, the King won't be pleased about it, and he'll hurt us all."_

" _But mom, he hurt me yesterday!"_

" _I know, bunny, but I can't do anything about it. Now come out of your hiding spot, he's waiting for you."_

 _Bella crawled out from underneath her bed and dusted herself off. She was wearing a beautiful dress with flowers, and her hair was perfectly braided, she felt like a princess. But she was scared. But she couldn't let her mom and dad get hurt because of what she refused to do so she had to do this._

" _Now, remember, you're not allowed to speak."_

 _Bella nodded. If she did, the King would hurt her parents._

 _Rosalie took Bella's hand and brought her to the main building, to the clean white room that she had been in the day before. When the King had hooked her up to a machine and flushed her blood and then hurt her with electric shocks because she had 'died'. Dying was scary. Her vision had become blurry at first, and her heart had been trying to pump blood that wasn't there and it had hurt so bad. She didn't want to go through that again._

 _She wanted to cry, but she wasn't allowed to do that either. She didn't want to be here, why was she here?_

" _Thank you, Rosalie, you may go now," the King spoke quietly as he lifted Bella up and placed her on the chair._

" _Please be careful with her, she's still hurting from whatever you did yesterday."_

" _Silence, woman. Go back to doing your duties as wife."_

 _Bella was strapped onto the chair in a second as the King used his speed to do so and then smirked. She wanted to wipe that smirk off his face. Permanently._

" _I've lived a lot of years, and I always refrained from harming humans," he spoke quietly with that same smirk on his face. "However, since you're our human, I don't see why I can't satisfy my curiousity how the current modern variety will hold up to particular experiments. Yesterday was entertaining, today will be even more so."_

 _Things were attached to her head and her arms, and she wasn't sure what it was. She couldn't see, her head couldn't move. Something was forced into her mouth, and she had to blink away her tears because it hurt. She couldn't swallow properly or move her head. This was scaring her._

" _Now let's see what happens when I flip this switch…"_

Bella fell off the couch as she convulsed and hit her head against the coffee table. She managed to let out a scream, but couldn't stop her body from moving. She couldn't stop herself from shaking.

Rebekah was the first one to get to her, pushing away the coffee table and holding Bella as she convulsed. Bella tried to focus on her and managed to see that she was worried. "Call Nik!" Rebekah shouted to someone else who was in the room. "He needs to come back now!"

Bella blacked out then and stopped convulsing. Rebekah carefully lifted her off the floor and placed her in Klaus' bed while Elijah was calling her brother. The girl was in rough shape, just like that. It looked like she had vampire bites all over, and that pissed Rebekah off. "Who came in here and bit her?"

"I don't think anyone did," Jeri said as she climbed on the bed. She sprinkled a mixture of herbs on Bella's body to soothe the effects of the spell for her and keeping her in a slumber for her sake. "I suspected something was off a few hours ago; her blood seemed to disintegrate or to separate from the magical components. I found a spell in the Grimoire that the witch had scribbled 'CC' next to. It took me a while to realize that it meant Carlisle Cullen, actually, it was Becky herself that gave me the answer."

"What is it?" Rebekah gently caressed the loose strands of hair out of Bella's face.

"Excuse me, Niklaus wants to hear this as well," Elijah said, placing the phone on speaker on the bed. "He's on his way home."

"I identified most of the spells used in the potion from tales you've told, from tests I've done on the blood and from tales Bella told. Becky validated them," Jeri explained. "One of them being the most important one; Klaus will be the death of Bella, and her savior."

" _What is that supposed to mean?"_ Klaus demanded through the phone.

"That Becky wasn't a particularly bad witch, just a scared one, but oh so crafty. To be honest, I'm impressed," Jeri said cheerfully as she saw another bite mark appear on Bella's arm. "She knew that one day, you'd come back to New Orleans. This is why she used your blood for this. She hated the Cullens and hated to work for them, but it meant protection and a hefty sum of money. When you're knee deep in debt, you'll do just about anything."

" _How do you know this?"_

"I summoned her spirit when Bella went down for a nap, no biggie," she replied. "How about you kill me as a thank you?"

" _Just keep talking, you're testing my patience,"_ Klaus growled.

"While you're well known for your monstrous behavior. Becky knew that all of you had a soft side as well and that upon returning to New Orleans, you'd eventually find her. She used your blood to bind her to you so that you'd be her salvation and ruin everything Carlisle would do to her. Reverse it. That part of the spell kicked in when you fed her your blood. Once it was out of her system, she started to have nightmares that seemed too real, almost as if she was reliving the memories. She's probably been in a lot of pain for the last couple of days, and none of us noticed."

A stream of expletives could be heard coming out of the phone from both Kol and Klaus. When they finally shut up again, Jeri continued. "Long story short, she's dying. So it's up to you if you want to save her."

" _And how am I supposed to do that?"_

"Turn her."

Klaus could be heard sucking in a breath. " _Is there another option?"_

"No. Either you turn her, or she permanently dies."

"Niklaus, how far away are you from New Orleans?" Elijah asked as he picked up the phone again.

" _A couple of hours but Kol already suggested we'd get rid of the car and run our way home to shorten the trip."_

"Do that, brother," Elijah urged him as he saw Bella's body spasm. "It's not looking good."

~o.O.o~

He could smell her blood the moment he set foot in the courtyard. He and Kol had quickly fed before they returned home after their long run, but he could smell her blood. Rushing to his study, he found everyone in there, holding a quiet vigil for Bella, who lay upon his bed dressed in a big shirt and some underwear, nothing else.

Klaus quickly observed the room and noticed a mountain of laundry, stained in red. "What happened?"

He wanted to rush to the bed and kneel down next to his Bella, but he had already rushed over from where he and Kol had gotten out of the car. Her heartbeat was faint. There were bite marks all over her body, some still red from recent appearances. There was blood seeping out of tiny marks made by syringes. Not much, but enough for him to worry. If this was a glimmer of the Cullen's treatment of her, he didn't want to know what he had missed.

"Internal bleeding, it came out of her as if it was her period on steroids or the Niagara Falls," Jeri murmured, placing a new cold, wet cloth on the feverish Bella. "I've managed to stabilize her somewhat, but you don't have long, Klaus. I've made her sleep, and I can wake her up again, but I have no idea for how much time."

"I'm going to kill them," Rebekah muttered, having watched the onslaught of the reversal first hand. Jeri had made another analogy about Bella's condition; with the spell in tact and without having fed on Klaus' blood, Bella was like an M&M. With the spell fallen away, the M&M was now breaking apart and even affecting the peanut inside. She had wanted to wake Bella or have Jeri wake her, so she could tell them if she was in any pain. If she needed anything, but Elijah convinced her that it was probably better for Bella if she was oblivious to all of this.

It was, but it didn't mean she had to agree with it.

"Has anyone asked her?"

"No, we let her sleep," Elijah squeezed his brother's shoulder. "We figured you should be the one to tell her what's going on and what her options are."

"Leave us," he demanded as he sat down on the edge his bed, looking at Bella over his shoulder. He needed to think really hard about this and very fast. Jeri and Kol stayed in the den. That wasn't what he had wanted, but maybe it was for the best seeing as Jeri's magic was the only thing helping Bella right now. Rebekah, Elijah, and Jessica were in the hallway but had closed the door. Not that it would count for privacy due to vampire hearing, but he always appreciated the gesture.

It surprised him that everyone had seemed to take a liking to this all too human and all too of an innocent young woman. The look on Kol's face spoke big and elaborate stories. He was putting up a brave face, but he didn't want Bella to leave, and Klaus wasn't certain if he wanted her to leave, either. Not out of fear as what might happen to him. He had survived the Hunter's curse. He could survive the spell being broken - and his heart with it would probably break in a million pieces as well.

She was human, but she was not. She'd never been around humans apart from those in that crazy cult, but even then, it was unlikely. Bella had always been surrounded by supernaturals, and that made her one, in his opinion. She was beautiful, honest, and there was this spark inside of her that was just waiting to be ignited. Maybe becoming a vampire would help her realize that she was less fragile than she thought she was and dared to do things, such as going outside. Or a simple boost in her personality.

Not that Klaus wanted it to change that much. If he had to be completely honest, he was enamored by her fragility and how she held herself up, proud. Those beautiful brown eyes of hers lit up whenever she saw him. That smile of hers was intoxicating and her scent…

However, he was hesitant. As with Marcel, he didn't want her to live the life he was leading. Death and destruction. Darkness. If he'd thought of Marcel as pure, then what was Bella? Angelic? He didn't want to ruin her. He hadn't actually ruined Marcel although he did stab him in the back. Would Bella do such a thing? No, she wouldn't. She'd be afraid to hurt anyone, it would be a task to get her to drink from a human.

He loved her now, but would he love her forever? She'd already become a part of their family. Would he be able to deal with her for the rest of her vampire life or would she be in danger as should she be a vampire, he wouldn't hesitate to kill her when pissed off? No, he wouldn't hurt her, ever. Nothing would change.

He'd still take revenge on the Cullens because of her. Even if she were gone. If she'd stay, she could help, and he'd help her rip off that Edward's head and stuff it up Carlisle's ass. But her revenge shouldn't be the only reason for her to turn.

He wanted her to stay. As his.

But only if she wanted to. He wasn't going to force her. This was going to be her choice.

"Jeri?"

"Yes?" Jeri walked into the bedroom, finding Klaus in the same position as they'd left him, on the bed with his back towards Bella.

"How much pain would she be in if you'd wake her now? Would she be coherent enough?"

"Oh, I don't know," Jeri ran her hand through her hair. "I mean… she's a tough cookie, really tough. She'd probably act as if nothing's wrong while her body deteriorates. As I said before, I spelled her to take the edge off the pain but… I don't know. She'd be in a lot of pain, I guess."

"Very well, then she and I will have to have a chat while she's transitioning," he said as he looked at Jeri. "Do you have a syringe on you?"

"No, but I'll get one," she smiled at him before leaving him again.

Klaus moved on the bed and carefully pulled Bella's unconscious form into his lap, covering her with a blanket as she felt cold. "I'm so sorry, my love," he whispered in her ear, hoping she'd somehow hear it. Kissing the top of her head, he could feel how her body slightly shook and then continued to tremble. He was going to kill the Cullens. Even if there were some good ones, he was going to kill them all.

"What did you want with this?" Jeri asked as she returned.

"Take some of my blood, please, then inject it into her. I don't want to wake her up if she's going to be in so much pain," Klaus replied as he held out his arm to her.

"I might have to do that twice, to be safe."

"Nonsense."

"Twice, to be safe," Jeri said as she pushed the needle into his arm and withdrew his blood. She was more careful with injecting it into Bella. "And a harmless spell for good luck," she added after muttering something before she injected her with the second dose. He had wanted it to do it this way because right now, Bella was still very much out cold, and he wanted his blood to take. To be sure that it would heal her up and change her. All he needed to do now was to snap her neck.

Just like that.

Her beautiful, fragile neck.

The sound of her bones crack was louder, somehow. Or maybe it seemed louder because it was so god awful quiet. He could feel the life drain out of her body, her heart beat had come to a full stop, and he really hoped he hadn't done the wrong thing.


	18. Transition

She rolled over on the bed and was surprised that she had rolled into someone. Opening her eyes, she blinked when she saw that it was Klaus. Sitting up and the room came into focus, everyone else was there as well. "Oh, that's not creepy at all," she muttered as she looked at them. "Watching me sleep?"

"More like waiting for you to wake up, love," Klaus crooned and looked her over. Over the past few hours, he'd watched her body heal itself, turning those pale cheeks pink again, and all the bite marks removed from her. "How are you feeling?"

"I… feel fine?" she guessed. She did feel fine, how was that possible? She looked at Jeri and smiled at her. "Did you do this?"

"There wasn't anything I could do, Bella," Jeri replied with an even voice. "We called Kol and Klaus back so Klaus could save you."

"You did?" she smiled back up at him.

"Not quite yet, love," he gently rubbed her back. "But for now, we're all glad you're feeling better. Let's have breakfast, I think we all could use a good cup of tea right about now."

She softly kissed Klaus and left the bed. "I'm going to get changed, I doubt you'll want me to be at the table in-" she looked down at herself and shrugged. "Nothing but a shirt and underwear, apparently. Why is that?"

"Things became a little messy last night," Jeri answered with a smile. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"I don't know… having my pancakes and then laying down on the couch, I guess?" Bella said after a while. She gratefully took the pair of sweatpants that Kol held up for her and got into them, making her look a little bit more presentable. "Why?" She could tell that they were all hiding something and were watching her carefully. She had felt uncomfortable before, but this was at the top of her list right now. "Just tell me, please. Something's going on, and you're leaving me out of it. I don't like it."

Kol smirked. Bella was feeling better, her lethargy of the past few days gone, and now he hoped she'd stick around. "You know what? I think this is a talk that Nik and Bella should have in private. I'll bring you some breakfast, but you two need to discuss this."

When the door opened, Bella could hear the hinges squeak, and it sounded as if Carlisle was using a saw of some sort to cut something in her body. Wincing, she stumbled back, holding her head.

"It's alright love; I've got you," Klaus said as he helped her back to her feet and gently placed her on a chair. "That door has always been a slight annoyance, but you'll get used to it eventually."

The door closed again, and Bella angrily looked at Klaus. "What is happening?"

"You fell ill," he said as he kneeled down in front of her, leaning on her knees with his arms. "Rebekah found you convulsing on the floor after you fell off the sofa, and it went pretty fast after that. They called Kol and I back because you were fading."

She blankly stared at him for a while as her brain started to connect the dots. "Save me… Kol said you saved me. You bit me?"

"No, I haven't. Jeri helped me to get my blood into you before you… passed."

"So I'm dead? I'm… how? Why am I still here?"

"You're in transition, love. You were in so much pain last night that it wasn't wise to wake you to ask you… this was the next best option. You could either choose to die or to live."

She blinked at him. "You asshole! What was the talk about loving humans, respecting them and things like that? You violated me!"

"You still have a choice."

"I shouldn't have to have that choice, do I?" She pushed him away from her and started to pace the room. "Haven't I been through enough? Why couldn't you just let me go?"

He got to his feet and looked at her as she kept pacing the room. He didn't want to grab her because he might hurt her; her anger was fuelling his. Why was she unthankful? A lot of humans would love to have taken her place to get the choice.

"I mean, seriously, Klaus. You can't just play God like that. I thought you were different than that," she stopped pacing and looked at him. "Why couldn't you just let me go?"

That was the second time she asked him that and despite admitting it to himself, he wasn't quite sure what her reaction would be if he'd tell her. However, she needed to know, she didn't have a lot of time. "Because it is impossible for me to let you go, Bella. Not because you're a charity case because you're far from one. I wouldn't know what to do without you."

She huffed and rolled her eyes at him. She had done it before, but there was more fire behind it. Klaus mentally braced himself for if it'd come out today. "You're a thousand years old, Klaus. You'd be fine without me."

"Don't you want to stay?"

"Of course! But my life ended. And now it has to end again. I mean, I'd be so bad at being a vampire. I don't even dare to go out on the street!"

"You'll be stronger as a vampire. You could handle whatever would come your way. You won't get sick anymore. You'll be faster. You don't have to rely on others to protect you because you will be able to do it yourself - although that won't stop neither of us to still do that for you."

"I know what a vampire is, Klaus," she murmured as she looked at her feet. "I've suffered at the hands of a couple of bad ones for most of my life. And then I saw the beauty of it when you took me in," Bella lifted her head to look at him with a big smile on her face. "You're such a great person, Klaus. You've shown me kindness, warmth, happiness. You've shown me a better way of life; you were fixing me, building me back up from the ground. I kept telling myself that I was so lucky, so fortunate. There was nothing more that I wanted than to spend the rest of my natural life with you."

"Bella I-"

"I'm not done," she walked to him and pulled him down for a kiss before continuing. "I'm so afraid that I'm not a good enough person to be a vampire. I'm… what if I turn, and I end up being like the Cullens? Rotten? And then you'd leave me. Or you'd kill me because it's easier to break a broken vampire, isn't it?" She could feel the tears rolling down her cheeks. "And if I do turn, and I'm alright… what if in a couple of years you'd find someone more interesting? Prettier? And you'd forget about me?"

He was silent as he struggled to keep his temper contained. Her wanting to leave, to die, hurt deeply. "You couldn't be more wrong, love," he murmured as he lifted her chin to meet his eyes. "If you'd ever listened to a single story I told you, you'd know that I don't like to turn people myself, and when I do, it's because they mean something to me. Like, Marcel. He begged me to turn him, and I did, because, after all, he was family. You are family. You…" Klaus sighed as he released her. "I don't turn people because, in the end, all they want to do is leave. Marcel stuck around but not before stabbing me in the back a couple of times. My siblings? Elijah and Rebekah have left me countless of times; they still want to leave. And I don't blame them. Soon Kol will want to leave because he'd want to show his catch of the month the world, have her meet other witches. And me? I'm supposed to let that happen. But not you, Bella. Please. You can't leave me too."

Of course, why not? She nodded as she wiped away her tears. She couldn't leave. Over the months, he hadn't done anything simply for his enjoyment. He hadn't been selfish towards her; he had given her all the space and time she needed, and now he wanted one selfish act; he wanted her. Unless of course, she'd be bad or if he'd lose interest. It wasn't that she didn't want to stay, she wanted to be with him, she really did, but she couldn't quite explain what she was feeling. Instead, she was crying again. The thought of her leaving him hurt her too, maybe more than him leaving her. She didn't want to leave him. But she was scared.

"I get it that you're frightened, love, but please, everything will be alright, I promise you. Let's not hurt each other by talking about leaving one another."

Bella huffed and then nearly vomited when some disgusting smell wafted in through the open window. "What's that? Oh, that's disgusting."

"Your pancakes."

"No!" she said shocked. "You can't tell me that that horrible smell is the smell of my pancakes."

Klaus laughed. "It's not. It's the smell of coffee."

"Oh good."

"Everybody still alive in there?" Kol opened the door and peeked around the corner. "No bloodshed? I've brought pancakes and tea. Sorry, Nik, holding off on the blood so she can still make a normal, rational decision." He placed the breakfast on the table and smiled at Bella. "But I'd really love it if you'd stick around, little mooner," he winked at her. "Imagine all the fun we could have without worrying about one of us getting hurt!"

"You smell like coffee," Bella said as she scrunched her nose. "You're disgusting, Kol."

"I am?" He grinned as he took a step closer to her. "Hi," he breathed out in her direction. "How are you?"

"Leave me alone," she said, stepping back and pinching her nose. "You stink."

"I think he smells delicious," Jeri muttered darkly as she followed behind him.

"He makes me want to throw up right now," she said as she kept walking back while Kol kept walking towards her. "Go away, you need a mint."

"Oh, doubt you would want me to do that," Kol said with a grin before looking at his brother. "People in transition and new vampires are so much fun!" He fumbled in his pants and held up a roll of peppermint. "I've got a mint, are you sure you want me to take it?"

Bella nodded as she bumped into the wall. Kol was standing toe to toe with her now, and as he unwrapped his mint, she realized she had made a big mistake. The scent was even worse, stung her nose the moment it hit. "No, stop!"

"Too late," he grinned and popped it in his mouth.

"Stop overwhelming her senses, brother," Klaus warned him. "As you said, we want her rational still."

She managed to duck away and ran towards her pancakes. "Evil, so evil," Bella muttered as she rolled one up and took a bite out of it before spitting it out again after a few chews. "What did you do to the pancakes?" she breezed as she looked at Kol. "Did you make them with mud? I like pancakes, and you decide to ruin them?!"

"It wasn't me, darling," Kol laughed as he munched on his mint. "It's the change of human blood in your system that's killed your taste buds."

"No, you did this, you did this to annoy me!" Bella threw a pancake at him. "You're a stupid pancake, Kol!" She threw another at him, and it hit him straight in his face.

"You hear that, Nik? I'm a stupid pancake!" Kol kept laughing as he peeled the food off his face. Bella looked just about ready to blow; this was fun. So much fun! "But you know what? This pancake tastes delicious." He folded it and took a bite out of it. "Hmm… tastes so good, Bella, you have no idea what you're missing."

She was just about to throw another pancake at him when she smelled something delicious, almost as if it was calling out for her, and it was close. It wasn't the tea, although it smelled delicious too, she figured that if the pancake didn't taste good, the tea wouldn't either. This was a sweet smell; she could feel how she was salivating in her mouth. "Is that blood?" She looked at Jeri, who was standing at the table and walked towards her. "Oh my God, you smell delicious."

"Yes, she does, darling," Kol said as he stepped between Bella and Jeri. "But until you decide to stick around and be Klaus' Drusilla to his Spike, you're not going to taste blood."

"I don't want to be his Drusilla," Bella looked up to Kol and pushed the pancake she was holding in his mouth. "I want to be his Buffy. But seeing she's not a vampire, I suppose I'll have to settle to being his Drusilla, I don't know."

"How about just be the Bella to his Klaus, huh?" Jeri said kindly as she looked around Kol. It was nice and all that he wanted to protect her from the transitioning girl, but she didn't need protecting. She was going to be fine even if Bella killed her. Less trauma for the girl, and more fun for Jeri. "And what kind of person are you, Bella? Would you like a ring, bracelet or necklace? With your clumsiness, I think a ring would be best…" she looked at Klaus and smiled. "A ring so she won't turn crispy in the sun? You know, in case she says yes?"

"I have a question," Bella said as she had given up on Jeri, Kol was in her way, and that sucked. "I can't believe I haven't asked this before, but how do you get your blood?"

"It's freshly squeezed out of one of our servants every serving," Klaus replied as he had calmed down somewhat. His brother was a menace, but at least he also knew how to interrupt without it being an interruption.

"Do they volunteer their blood?"

"Bella, you're not going to drink animal blood, are you?" Kol groaned as he turned around to watch her walk back to Klaus. "That's disgusting."

"No, no animal blood, absolutely not," she shot at him before looking back at Klaus. "You compel them?"

"Yes."

"I don't want that. But I don't want innocent people to die either, so how is that going to work?" She put her arms around Klaus and looked up to him. "I feel like I'm a little bit too demanding…"

"Oh, no you're not love, and you raise a valid point," he ran his hand through her hair. "We know what your stance is on compulsion or any other method of control, and I was thinking that maybe we should indeed stop doing that to our servants."

"What?" Kol sputtered. "Nik!"

"They get paid for serving food, they get paid for everything, and we compel them to forget that we're vampires the moment they walk out the door. Why not have a change in diet? I'm pretty sure that there are deviant humans out there, we could keep them in our basement and feed off of them, have them donate their blood," he said with a smirk. "You know, those bastards who don't get picked up by the police, I'm pretty sure that New Orleans has a fair amount of them." Klaus looked at Bella again and smiled. "Would that be satisfying for you, love? Should you turn and need to feed that it'll only be on a bad person?"

"I think that would be great," she smiled up at him.

Oh, he was so grateful for Kol and his wickedness, he was. Just like that, he had eased Bella's mood again and coaxed her out of her head. "Alright love, was there anything else you were worried about?"

"Are you sure I won't become like them?"

"No," he smiled at her. "You simply turn into a stronger version of you. I have to admit, the first few days won't be very easy because you'll be ravenous and moody, but as you level out, you'll find yourself whole again."

"Although, if you lose your quirks, I'll be the first one to pester you to just fake it then," Kol added playfully as he finished eating the pancakes. "You won't change. Everything gets heightened, and you'll have to find a way to deal with them. Easy peasy after what you've been through."

"Now," Jeri said as she moved closer towards Bella and Klaus. "If you've made your decision…" she got her knife out of her pocket and slid open her wrist. "Have at it."

"Oh, that does smell good," Bella said as she looked at the blood flowing from Jeri's wrist. She wanted to take a sip but found herself unable to move as Klaus held her tightly. "Klaus!"

"What are you doing?" Kol demanded as he pulled Jeri back to him and quickly covered her wrist with a cloth. "Have you lost your mind?"

"What? She's going to turn, and that will make me the only mortal in this building. No thanks. And you promised." She sulked as she poked Kol in the chest with a knife. "Just as I promised to be on your side, you and your family's side, forever. Someone like me could come in very handy for you guys." She pouted when Kol took away the knife. "Besides, she'll have a few sips of my blood, and she'll turn. It's not like she'll actually kill me. She won't do that."

"She has my blood running through her veins, Jeri. If anything, she won't stop," Klaus said with a low growl as Bella was struggling against his hold.

"I don't care! I'd rather have her drink from me than she has to do it from a stranger. Her first time is special!"

"And what if it doesn't work?" Kol asked quietly. "What if she does kill you, and you don't come back?"

"I will come back, I have your blood in me. And with my family history? I'll definitely come back as a Heretic. I've done my research, trust me. I'll be here." Jeri thought for a moment. "You know what? Maybe it's safer to wait until the moon's out. The full moon is always stronger, more chance for me to survive it the way I want." She held up her wrist for Kol to heal. "Or you know, she could have a few sips now, complete the transition and then she can feed on me later."

"She'll kill you, Jeri."

"And I'll come back, you halfwit! And if you two are going to stop me, then you're mistaken. I'm powerful enough to stick the both of you behind the wallpaper and have Bella feed on me anyway, I'm playing nice here."

"You've lost your mind!"

"No, I haven't. I have wanted to do this ever since I heard of the coven's demise and the destruction of Mystic Falls by the Heretics. I want to do good, Kol. Help people. It's what I do best. As a Heretic, I can function on my own without drawing power from anyone magical, it'll make me stop feeling like a leech. You know this. I told you this."

"I know but…"

"And Bella here, she'll be hungry. Starved. Have you even stopped for a moment and thought about how a kill would change her life? I'd rather have her first to be me than some random stranger you guys picked up on the streets. I come back; it won't be as hard on her considering I've been trying to get you fuckers to kill me all this time. I love this crazy family but boy, you people are idiots sometimes."

"Please?" Bella looked up to Klaus, a hopeful look on her face. "I'll be good, I promise."

"It's not you I'm worried about, love," Klaus said as he held her closer. "It's her."

"After all she did for you, for us, you still don't trust her? I do. I appreciate her honesty and her treating everyone equally. I don't think she'll do anything to hurt Kol or you, or the rest of your family."

"You're just saying that because you want her blood."

"No, I'm not," she said as she shook her head. "You can't see it, can you? She has nothing but respect for you and your family. She has a big mouth and speaks out of place, but she speaks her mind and changes yours on occasion because she has valid points. She deserves to change, Klaus. She is willing to give me her blood now, and I can have more later."

"So it is about the blood."

She hit him in the chest with her fist. "I trust her more than I trust Marcel."

"She has a point," Kol said, and then playfully smirked. "And if it doesn't work out, Niklaus, at least we'll have a challenge in killing her."

Klaus growled lowly as he leveled his eyes on Jeri, ignoring another punch coming from Bella. "You feel more confident around the full moon?"

"Well, sure, I can draw power from that to speed up the process of me healing. But I doubt anything will go wrong," she said with a shrug. "But she needs blood now. She needs to complete her transition because right now she's doing fine, but you know very well that the longer she waits, the weaker she gets, and she won't be able to drink blood at all. She'll probably won't get hungry until tonight anyway."

He took hold of Bella's wrists as she wanted to punch him again and smiled at her. "Love, that didn't hurt me at all but did you work through your anger?" He asked amused. "Finished your little tantrum?"

"It wasn't a tantrum; I was trying to prove a point."

"You can prove a point without hurting people, love."

"And you just said I didn't hurt you at all," she beamed up at him. "So how does that work?"

He had to admit, he was slightly amused by this Bella. She was antsy and wanted Jeri's blood, but her heightened senses weren't allowing her to be so closed off. He hoped it'd stick once she fully turned. It was adorable. "Are you sure, love? Do you really want to complete your transition?" He wanted to know she was sure, but he couldn't even be happier as of this moment.

"Klaus, I want to stay with you," she smiled up to him, so much love was in her eyes that filled his heart with glee. "I want us to become better together. I want to continue what we've started and be part of your family. So I can annoy Kol the way he annoyed me."

"Very well then. Just a sip. You can have her all to yourself tonight."

Kol scowled at his brother as he wrapped his hand around Jeri a little possessively. "I take offense to that! She will be mine!"

Jeri huffed as she swatted his hand away from her. "Does it really have to take someone else's drinking my blood for you to agree to this? Idiot. Tough. The girl will need to feed, and she's going to do that on me. If you want to have some of my blood, you two better share."

"I'm still not liking it!"


	19. Baby's first feed

Everything had become more intense after she had drunk a little of Jeri's blood. The light hurt her eyes, and the sounds were giving her a headache. And she was hungry. But at least no longer at risk of immediate death. Had it been the right decision? Yes. A full-hearted yes. She thought that she would drastically change, but she was still her, just with everything seriously heightened.

She could hear the soothing sounds of birds singing, the annoying cars with their engines, she could feel the vibrations of the trucks passing by as if there was an earthquake. It was a good thing that Klaus allowed her to stay in bed to adjust a little and out of the sun. Otherwise, she was sure she'd fallen over.

She could hear Kol and Jeri argue about her own plans. She tried not to listen, but they were loud, almost as if they were arguing in the room next to Klaus'. Kol could understand where Jeri stood, why she wanted it, but he liked her as a human too. Jeri called him selfish - just like she was.

"It's not polite to eavesdrop, love," Klaus' voice sounded before she felt movement on the bed. "Listen to my voice instead."

"I didn't mean to," she said as she rolled to her other side and right into him. He smelled incredible. Manly. A hint of paint and paint thinner. Blood. Tea. Bourbon. Everything. She took a deep breath as she inhaled his scent; Bella wanted to wrap it around her and make love with it. "I love the way you smell," she said with a whisper. He was close now, his warmth against hers.

"Do you?" he asked teasingly, a big grin on his face. He made sure not to touch her; he wanted her to ease into the intense feelings as they were glorious. "What about this?" he brushed her lips with his and could feel how her body responded to that.

"More," she giggled, pulling him closer, for another kiss. It felt as if her whole body was on fire with a mere brush, a simple kiss and she wanted more. It felt euphoric. He kissed her chastely again, and she didn't want that. "More," she said a little bit more demanding before nearly crawling into him to have their mouths collide and their tongues battling for domination.

She got on top of him without breaking off the kiss and tugged on his shirt. She wanted it off. Realizing that she couldn't get rid of his shirt without breaking off the kiss, her hands went for his pants before she winced when she heard Jeri yell. It went through her bones, her body, and immediately she wasn't in the mood anymore.

" _You two-faced son of a bitch!"_ she yelled, which was followed by something smashing and Kol groaning in pain. " _I'm going to do this with or without you, Kol. And if you're going to stop me, if anyone tries to stop me tonight, I'll find some seedy vampire in the gutters of New Orleans to turn me, and you can kiss my ass!"_

Klaus laughed and pulled Bella back to him, back into the bubble they just had. "Poetic, really, because Kol is the son of a bitch, if you think about it."

"Oh, hilarious," she muttered as she sat up. "This isn't funny. This is getting out of hand. I mean, is this how it's going to be from now on? Getting turned off by the slightest things? Interrupted by the craziest, tiniest sounds? This sucks." She covered her ears when she heard a door slam.

He smiled as he let out a sigh at his feuding brother and his witch. "You will learn to adjust to your new senses. It will take time, though, just as you had when you joined the family initially."

"I hope it'll be a shorter process," she muttered as she pulled the covers over them as a shield from the rest of the world, at least it was darker. Underneath the covers, Klaus' scent and heat started to hug her again like a warm blanket, and she let out a content sigh. "You do smell so good…"

He ran his finger up and down her back, causing her to moan and him to grin. "Every sense is heightened, and it's very alien to get used to, to stop responding so easily to them. It won't ever go away, but you'll learn control."

She hummed as she traced a finger over his chest, in the same motion he was doing on her back. She couldn't believe that her body was back in the mood, and so was she, but she was also very comfortable right now.

"I could make you climax without even touching your sensitive areas. Would you like a demonstration, love?" He whispered and she whimpered in anticipation. "Good," he smiled and kept drawing things on her back. She had her eyes closed; he knew that which was only going to enhance the experience. "You are so beautiful, Bella. You're irresistible, and I never know how to quite handle myself around you… whether to fuck you senseless or to treat you like the princess you are. The _Queen_ that you are… now that you're no longer human… it'll be a little easier to give in to what I want…" he said with a low growl, sending sound waves through her body and she let out a small moan. He could tell that she was wet already, even through her clothing. Heat radiated from her, and he was going to light that fire and set her ablaze.

"I could have you on the table, put you on display just for me, and I would kiss every inch of your body. My lips against your skin, my stubble teasing your skin as I move all over your body with my lips. The cold table warming up from the heat coming off your body. The slight breeze coming in from the window, caressing your skin, leaving a tingling sensation on the slightly wet spots on your body… I never said my kisses were dry… maybe I could use my tongue to swirl around your nipples…"

"Klaus…" she breathed as she buried her face in his shirt.

He quietly laughed as he continued. "My fingers would replace my tongue and I would kiss my way down your body, worshipping every single inch of your stomach, swirling my tongue in your belly button before going further down, licking your lips below, lapping up all your fluids before licking them again, slowly. I'll occasionally twist your nipple to make sure you're still with me. How does that feel?"

Bella hummed a response and squirmed a little against his erection, causing him to let out a groan.

"I'd seek entrance with my tongue and push a bit through, my nose now buried against your clit, pushing against it as my tongue tries to go deeper…"

Bella's breathing had hitched for a moment before she threw the covers off of them, and she tore open his pants without blinking.

"Careful! You nearly took me with you!"

"Sorry," she blushed as she looked at him. Holy pancakes, she was stronger than she thought she'd be!

"And I was telling a story, so lay back down and listen," Klaus said as he pulled her down again, wrapping his arms tightly around her so she couldn't easily move. Now that his cock was free, though, he had a hard time concentrating. He was quiet for a moment, and he couldn't quite remember where he'd left it. "Oh, bollocks," he sighed as he rolled them around and pushed her into the mattress. "I was so close."

Bella giggled as he tore away her sweatpants and looked at her with darkened eyes. "Would you like to finish inside of me then?" she asked coyly.

"You leave me no other choice."

"Klaus!" Kol's voice had sounded before the door swung open, revealing a stunned looking Original vampire. "Oh, can't you keep it in your pants, really?"

Bella flew off the bed, but instead of hiding, she crossed the room super fast and knocked Kol against the nearest wall. "That's the second time you've interrupted us!" she sneered as she looked up to him.

Kol blinked for a moment, as if his brain was trying to register what was going on, and then started to laugh. "Oh, you're adorable. Look at the anger in your eyes. So cute!"

Shocked, she took a step back and looked at Kol. Had she actually just pushed him against a wall? She? Her own strength? She narrowed her eyes and punched him in his chest before turning around and walking back into the bedroom to find a pair of pants that she could wear. "You stupid pancake!"

"What do you want, brother?" Klaus growled as he, too, looked for an intact pair of trousers. "Come to complain about your girlfriend? How she has a death wish?"

"We can't allow her to go through with this, Nik," Kol said as he stood in the doorway to the bedroom once both vampires were dressed. "There's a possibility she won't turn into a Heretic, sure, she's a Gemini, and she's a siphoner, but what if she doesn't become a hybrid? What if she has to stop doing what she loves? Helping people?"

"She could still help people as a vampire, Kol."

"Yes, but her magic will be lost! Her light will go out!"

Klaus smiled at that and gently patted his brother on his shoulder. "She knows what she's doing, brother," he said calmly, although he'd rather stick a dagger in his chest for interrupting some fun times. "Siphoners are the only supernatural beings who can be a witch and a vampire. She won't become a Heretic, she'll become a hybrid. It's easier to refer to it as a Heretic, but it's not correct, she's not part of that group that caused mayhem in Mystic Falls. She's family, sure."

"Fine, then there's a possibility that she won't become a hybrid," Kol spat. "Same shit."

"She will. You of all people should know that. You know witchy stuff better than I do. And hasn't she taken every precaution? Turn on a full moon? Draw strength from that? She has your blood in her system, and I'm sure you'll top her up before you and Bella drink from her."

"Yes, I don't like that idea either. Jeri is mine, and she's not going to change."

Klaus recognized a lot of his own anxiety in Kol's behavior. Granted, there were higher stakes with Jeri, but it all came down to the same thing; commitment issues. The fear of abandonment. The idea of letting someone come even closer to you and have them to tear out your heart and crush it once they're through with you. He put his hands on Kol's shoulder and smiled at him. "It's alright to be scared, brother."

"I'm not scared, Nik."

"Yes, you are, and I've learned that there is nothing wrong with that. We've been living our lives for so long, allowing some people get closer than others. But never to the extent of opening our hearts to someone who sees us for who we are and still seem to like us. To someone who isn't afraid to give us shit if we do something stupid. We've been living for so long minding our own business that we forgot what it felt like to be complete with someone."

Kol grumbled something inaudible as he lowered his head in resignation; he knew his brother was right.

"For the last six or seven months we've been teaching Bella to live, haven't we? To take chances, risks, when it comes to doing things that scare her. What it's like to be human. We are nothing but hypocrites if we don't do it ourselves," he continued. "I have to admit, I'm a little bit hesitant myself to turn Jeri into a vampire-witch hybrid, but there is nothing we can't face if we stick together, Kol. Should she ever break your heart, we'll rip out hers. No matter how long it will take us to get close to her. Now is a good time as any to let a little bit of positivity in our lives. If it doesn't work out, at least we'll still have each other. Don't we, brother?"

"Promise me one thing, Nik," Kol said with a slight smile on his face as he looked at his older brother. "Stop giving motivational speeches. It scares the piss out of me."

"Trust me when I say that I've had enough of them myself," he said with a grin and then hugged Kol. "It's going to be alright, little brother. Take a leap of faith, see where it lands you." He let go of his brother and looked around. "Any chance you've seen where Bella went?"

"I was listening to the sound of water so I didn't have to overhear your conversation," she replied as she emerged from the bathroom. "Don't worry, I didn't go and find the nearest human to eat although I'm getting hungry."

"Well, maybe it'll ease your mind to know that both Elijah and Rebekah are currently seeking candidates for your diet. You have Nik's blood in you and Jeri suspects there's more to it so you might get ravenous after drinking her," Kol smirked at her. "Bloodlust is so much fun! I can't wait to see you and Jeri slaughter as many as you can."

"Not to get all giddy about it, but yes, I have to agree, it'll be quite the spectacle," Klaus agreed. "The cleaning crew is going to get a kick out of cleaning up the mess."

~o.O.o~

"Glad to have you on board with this, Kol," Jeri smiled at him as she caressed his cheek. It wasn't every day that someone could choose their own death and resurrection. Now was the time for her transformation. She'd be completely autonomous because she could feed off herself, and that was incredible. No longer she'd have to be a Magical leech.

"I'm not really on board, darling," he muttered and kissed the top of her head. "I just don't want to lose you, so you'd better come back from this, or I will find someone to resurrect you and I'll kill you myself."

"Good to see that chivalry isn't dead," she grinned as she looked up at the moon from the window. She could feel its attraction, it's power, on her skin. "Can I have some more of your blood please?" she asked as she looked at him. "Just to be sure."

"You promise me a taste of yours?" He put his arms around her and pulled her against his chest so she could still look up to the moon, but he could have the pleasure of feeling her still human body against his.

"Take a sip."

Kol let out a content hum and bit his wrist to feed it to her, as usual. He then sunk his teeth into her neck and started to drink.

"Leave some for the new vampire," Jeri said with a little moan as his lips were on her neck. She took hold of his wrist and started to drink his blood. She was going to do this, and she was going to come back even more kickass.

Was she scared? She was scared to death, absolutely. This whole idea was insane, and it was likely going to be traumatic as well. Bella didn't know how to feed yet; it was going to be messy and painful for her. But she was going to do it anyway. The prospect of truly dying was freaking her out, but she wasn't going to back pedal.

Even though the Originals could take care of themselves, it didn't hurt to have her on their side either. Especially if the Cullens would come knocking.

"Shit!" Jeri said as she let go of Kol's wrist and wiped her mouth as she tried to bump him away from her with her ass. "I completely forgot!"

"Forgot what?" he asked with a whine. "Relax, Jeri," Kol pulled her closer and gently started to massage her shoulders. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it can wait until tomorrow."

She huffed a response. "I was doing another blood test earlier on Bella, to see how things changed inside of her after completing her transition. I want to know the results."

"Yeah, that can wait until tomorrow," he snickered and kissed her neck. He started to laugh when he heard Bella stomp around in Klaus' study, ready to blow a fuse as she was starving. "Are you ready? I doubt we can have her wait any longer. She might even run into the street to find someone."

"And here I thought you were hesitant," she said with a snort as she leaned back in his arms. "But yes, I'm ready."

"Are you sure? No second thoughts? No other things you need to take care of before you stop being a human?"

"Let's get it over with."

"Bella! Feeding time!" Kol called out, earning him an elbow in the chest from Jeri. "Oh, look, we'll have an audience," he said slightly frustrated when not only Klaus and Bella entered their room, but also Elijah with Jessica and Rebekah. Bella already had her true face on, hers matching Klaus', which wasn't freaky at all. "Oh, she's hungry." If it hadn't for Klaus holding her arm tightly, she might have attacked Jeri on sight.

"And yet, she has remarkable self-control," Klaus said like a proud boyfriend. "She's been pacing back and forth ever since the sun went down, itching for blood, but she waited. I can't say she's lucid, though."

"Won't Jeri's magical blood be too much for her?" Elijah wondered. He'd been wondering about that all day if he had to be honest. Stranger things had happened with Bella, even though she was supposed to be in perfect health right now.

"No, it'll be okay, just like snacking on any other witch," Kol replied with a shrug.

"Please," Bella whimpered as she looked at Klaus. "Please, I need."

Jeri walked over to Bella and pulled her into a hug. "Go on then," she said soothingly.

Kol wasn't sure if he could watch this. The new vampire didn't have to be told twice as she sunk her teeth into her neck. He had already seen that Bella was being sloppy and blood was already all over her, Jeri and the floor and he simply couldn't. Not because he was squeamish, he didn't want to see Jeri die. Taking a deep breath, he went into the bathroom. He'd come back once Jeri's heart stopped beating.

"Easy, love," Klaus told Bella, but she was too focused on finally being able to feed, and she was greedy, just like he was. Jeri was in pain; he could tell from the look on her face. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to have her be Bella's first. Was there a right decision in this matter? Not really.

She started to squeeze Jeri like a Capri-sun pouch when nothing came out of her body anymore. Her bones were breaking and before Klaus knew it, Kol had rushed back in and had tossed Bella across the room. He caught Jeri's limp and broken body with ease and gently placed her on the bed. "You didn't have to break her!" He scolded her.

Bella blinked at Kol as her face reverted to her usual self. "I didn't mean to!" She countered, her head all of a sudden bright as day. "Is she alright?"

"Yes, she's dead, and nothing is beyond fixing," Elijah replied as he approached Bella with his handkerchief and handed it to her. She looked like a savage.

Something inside Bella started to move; a low rumbling was coming from her stomach. "I don't feel so good…" A sharp pain in her abdomen caused her to double over. "Oh, that's not good… I had too much…"

"Take a breath, love," Klaus said as he took Elijah's handkerchief and tossed it back at him before the sound of bones breaking drew the eyes of the Original Vampires onto the new vampire.

"I don't think that was supposed to happen…" Rebekah muttered.

"Well, there was always a possibility…" Elijah added thoughtfully. "Didn't think it would actually happen."

"Well fuck," Kol said with a growl. "Get her out of here!"


	20. Teething

It felt wrong to take her off the floor and run downstairs to the holding cells, but for her safety - and those of others, but mainly hers - she needed to be locked up. It made sense that this was happening, she had his blood in him for years. No doubt Carlisle had done something to mess up her genes as well. Or maybe it was the spell, they would have to ask Jeri about it when she'd risen again.

To see Bella in so much pain hurt him. But he took solace in the idea that this was going to be her only time she had to go through this; they were going to work on control when she snapped out of it. Klaus didn't like it to be on the other side, watching someone he loved go through this alone. He had done it. Mikael and Elijah had run from him while it happened. He needed to be with her.

"Whatever happens, Elijah, please do not open this door," Klaus said as he opened it. "Only to throw in one of those guys for her to maul when she grows to frenzy. I'll stop her from escaping."

"Niklaus, you're not going to do what I think you're going to do?"

"I don't want her to be alone."

"She won't know what she's doing. It's highly irresponsible."

"Is it? She can't kill me, Elijah," he said as he could already feel his body preparing for his shift. He pulled his shirt off and joined Bella in her cell as she lay writhing on the floor. "Do take a picture of her once she's fully turned. I think she'll love to see what happened."

It had been a long time since he'd seen the part of his brother that he kept hidden; the perks of being a hybrid was that he never needed to turn or could turn at will. He was more vulnerable as a wolf. To do this, for Bella, was a touching gesture, and he'd follow his brother's instructions out of respect. "Good luck, brother," he said as he moved to sit on a bench and kept his eyes on the cell in front of him.

His brother's transformation was fast and with ease and by the time he was done, Bella had completed hers as well. She was unlike any other wolf he'd seen. All the werewolves he'd encountered appeared natural. They could blend in with the regular wolves. Bella, however, was white all over. She wasn't quite an albino as her eyes were yellow like the rest of the wolves, but her entire coat was white. It fit as he thought about it. Bella's whole life had been unusual. She became a vampire in the most unusual way and due to unnatural circumstances, why would becoming a hybrid be any different?

Bella snarled at Klaus as she paced around the cell, it was one of the larger ones that Klaus had brought her to, but she was searching for a way out. His eyes calmly followed her, but when she got near him, she snapped at him. He let out a growl in response and Bella kept circling the cell, eyeing Klaus, but her body language was not letting up. Elijah was wondering how far Klaus would let Bella go before he'd do something about it.

It was sometime after midnight when Bella finally stopped pacing and started to approach his brother. It was remarkable how calm and collected she was, perhaps they had underestimated her. She sniffed Klaus, before biting his tail, hard. Klaus retaliated by letting out a roar, and a swung at her head with his paw and soon, both wolves were fighting. While Bella was intentionally trying to hurt Klaus, Klaus did his best not to hurt her but still establish dominance.

When Bella drew blood, Elijah knew it was time to throw in one of their captured criminals. It was entertaining to watch their reactions to the wolves in the other cell. He could smell the fear coming off of them. Grabbing the closest, he pulled him out of the cell and walked back to where Klaus and Bella were. "Watch it, Niklaus," Elijah said before opening the cell door and threw the man in.

Without hesitation, Bella's attention snapped to the man and pounced on him, pushing him to the floor and removed a piece of his torso with her teeth. The sound of bones breaking and meat being devoured could still be heard over the man's screams. Klaus patiently watched as Bella ripped the man apart, the blood staining her white coat. Elijah took a step back when the man's genitals flew through the air, towards him, and he could swear he could hear Klaus huff in appreciation.

Elijah didn't want to know what was going on inside his brother's head right now.

Bella howled when there was nothing left for her to take apart before flopping down on her stomach with a content huff and started to lick her paws clean. Klaus lowered himself to the ground and crawled towards her before putting a paw on her head and began to help her clean herself up.

Eventually, Bella rolled over to show her belly to him, and Klaus started to lick that. Yes, she had settled down, and Elijah could go back to watching from afar.

He threw another deviant in the cell after two hours and then was joined by Rebekah, who gasped when she saw Bella. "Elijah, she's…"

"White, I know."

"Beautiful!" She replied and then scrunched her nose. "And they're both being very disgusting right now."

"I suggest you take a few steps back, sister. Bella likes to throw body parts around."

Rebekah did as she was told. "Jeri's already awake. I came to get her a body to feed on."

"Awake already?" He said surprised. "How on Earth is that possible?"

"I don't know, Elijah, and frankly, I didn't ask. We've had enough surprises in the last two days to last us a lifetime," she walked over to the other cell and pulled a guy out. "Confess your sins," she compelled him.

"I beat my wife and children."

"Good enough for me, come on," she said as she dragged the man with her towards Kol's room. "For your sake, brother, I hope the wolves aren't going to have sex."

"Oh lord help me," Elijah muttered as he quickly fetched a bucket of water in case he needed it. But apart from them playing, challenging each other and yelping as they ran around the cell, nothing else happened. The moment he saw the first signs of Bella changing back, he ran up to Klaus' room to fetch the both of them some clothing. He then threw them in the cell as he had his back turned towards it. "Good morning," he greeted them.

Bella groaned and blinked at Klaus, who was getting dressed. "What happened?"

"Congratulations, love. You're a hybrid," Klaus smirked and softly kissed her. "Get dressed, we're going to have a wash and discuss this over breakfast." He then looked at his brother. "Did I hear it correctly? Jeri's already awake and fed?"

"Yes, she is."

"Well, breakfast is going to be interesting then," Klaus smiled as he wrapped his arm around Bella and headed upstairs with her. He remembered most of the night, maybe not as sharply as normal, but he knew most of it. The last time he was in wolf form was after he'd broken the curse, and that had been his second time. There was no need for him to be transforming, and so he didn't. But he couldn't let Bella deal with hers on her own, and he had to admit, it had been an entirely liberating experience.

And Bella. She had surprised him. She kept surprising him, and that was fascinating. He had sensed the feral inside of her, but she remained - mostly - calm. She had tested him, of course, and for a while he thought he'd surrender to her, but he wasn't ready for that. He was the big bad wolf, and he wouldn't surrender like that, not to her, not to anyone. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

After their refreshing shower, he and Bella joined the rest of the family for breakfast. Including Jeri, who had the biggest smile ever on her face. She still looked a little worse for wear, even after feeding, but she'd perk up soon enough. "Good morning!" she greeted them.

Bella hugged her tightly. "I'm sorry I hurt you."

"That's okay, I'm whole now," Jeri said with a grin and gently tapped Bella's arm to let go of her. "You should try a waffle, it's extraordinary."

"I'm not really hungry," Bella said as she sat down next to Klaus and reached for the tea. "You're heavy on the stomach."

"Hey!"

Klaus smirked. "Actually, Bella, you've had two humans to eat during the night. And you didn't drink their blood but had some of their meat."

"Oh! Yeah!" Jeri said enthusiastic. "That was what I was figuring out last night, whether or not she could turn into a hybrid. It seems that's a definite yes." She slapped Kol on his arm. "And you said that could wait until today. Wouldn't it have been a lot better if they knew before it happened?"

"Don't hit me, Bella was hungry."

"A hybrid? That's what you are, isn't it?" Bella looked at Klaus. "And what Jeri is now."

"And you."

"But I can't be, as far as I know I don't have any weird genes… Carlisle would have found a way to get rid of them," Bella said as she took a sip of her tea and moaned at the taste. "Oh, so good…"

Klaus was tempted to pull the tea out of Bella's hands, but he had to control himself. Everything tasted new and good to her, and Jeri, now and he was sure that Kol was currently in the same boat as him.

"No, but you see," Jeri said excitedly. "This is where it gets interesting; to bind you to Klaus, some of the blood changed a little bit of your genetic makeup and voila. You're a hybrid. Well, it's a little bit harder than that but you know," she shrugged as she devoured another waffle. "As I said when I first met you, some serious magic was involved in assuring that Bella wouldn't be corrupted."

He smirked when he took a sip of his tea.

"Oh, would you like to see pictures? I took a few," Elijah offered as he took his phone out. "It's quite spectacular."

Klaus took the phone and showed Bella the images. "Tell me, love, which one are you?"

"The grey one?" Bella was astounded when she looked at the images. Had she really turned into a wolf? That was quite surreal, wasn't it?

"No, love, you're quite special. You are the white one."

"Wow," she said surprised. "I'm sorry… I… it's still weird that a human can become a wolf… a real wolf."

"And being a vampire is normal?" Kol snorted.

"Well… yeah. It was being human that was so awkward. Fragile, I guess." She had only been a vampire for such a short amount of time, but it already felt right, as if she was in the right place. That she finally belonged. She took another sip of her tea and despite its deliciousness, she tried not to moan, she had seen how Klaus had responded to that earlier.

"Well, you can turn into a wolf," Jessica said with a pout. "I feel like I'm the most normal person at this table right now."

"You are very… fu- vulnerable," Elijah said as he hid his smirk when he took a sip of his tea.

"Yes, and because you were on babysitting duty last night, we didn't get to do what we had planned," Jessica still pouted. "You'll make it up to me, right?"

"No, he won't," Bella murmured as she gingerly took a pancake of the plate and hoped it would taste better. "Neither of you are going to get any. Klaus and I haven't had some either."

"And it bites!" Kol cheered.

Jeri sat there with her bite of waffle paused at her lips. "Cockblocking already Bella? You know I won't put up with that shit. Wolf venom or not. I'm the only one in the house truly immune from the two of you so rethink your strategy."

"You two probably had sex when Klaus and I were tearing up two people," Bella said as she took a bite of the pancake and spat it out again. "Ew."

"Excuse you," Rebekah said disgustedly. "Kol and I were taking care of Jeri last night, to make sure she was well fed just as Klaus and Elijah were taking care of you. So, if you lot want to turn this place into a brothel amongst the six of you after I finish eating, have at it! I'll be at Marcel's."

Jeri dropped her fork on her plate. "I just lost my appetite. Kol is mine. I might have swung for Klaus at some point if either of us weren't attached, but beyond that, the rest of you aren't my type."

"Thanks, I think?" Klaus blinked at her before eyeing his sister. "We will not do any swapping of the sort."

"You weren't shying away from that a few hundred years ago," she said playfully as she put her napkin on her plate and rose to her feet. "Have fun!" Before Rebekah left, she turned around with a smile on her face. "Oh, do teach the girls how to slow down and how to use their new strength before they break things around the house. Ta!" She said with a slight giggle and ran off.

Kol huffed. "As if we're novices."

"You are a bit irresponsible," Elijah noted.

"Says the one that was ready to hand his own newborn back to the pound," Jeri muttered into her coffee mug.

"Ah, but that's entirely different. I didn't sire her; I merely took her in for the night, and I hoped that Marcel would take care of her. Things turned out differently."

"And here I am, still mourning the fact that pancakes are now problematic in taste," Bella pouted as she looked at her pancake. She grabbed the maple syrup and the icing sugar and covered her pancake in that before trying another bite. "Okay, that's better."

Jeri stared at her with a raised eyebrow. "There's nothing wrong with the food unless it's something with your new wolf traits fucking with your taste buds."

"I know," Bella grumbled as she took another bite from her pancake. "I love pancakes."

"You're a dog; you're supposed to eat everything."

Bella's head snapped to Jessica, and she let out a growl. "Excuse you?" She'd never have done this before, but something inside of her just snapped when Jessica spoke up.

"Oh fuck," Jeri muttered as she sat back in her chair and watched the spectacle about to ensue. She couldn't help but to smile in anticipation, barely restraining herself in her seat not to lash out for the comment herself.

"What? That's how it works, doesn't it? You're a hybrid now, part dog. You basically eat scraps."

Klaus growled and wanted to move to do something, but Bella was already on it. She leapt over the table and grabbed Jessica's arm before biting it. She wanted to tear it off, but she figured that if werewolf bites were toxic to vampires, then a bite would suffice.

Elijah wasn't fast enough to protect his new protégé, nor reprimand her as he was too, stunned by her comments. "Bella!" he called out as he jumped from his seat, reaching to stop her, but her growls forced him to step back. "Let her go before you kill her."

Kol grinned as he too, sat back and watched Bella take a bite out of Jessica. "Don't piss off a vampire who can't filter emotions that well yet, Jessica," he teased. "Look what happened!"

Bella released Jessica as she looked at her. "Don't you ever say something as stupid as that again!"

"Fine," Jessica quickly got to her feet and tried to feed on Bella, but Bella moved back to the other side of the table before Jessica could do so. "Bitch! Even as a mutt you're special needs! I hoped you'd be cured of that!"

Bella circled round the table again as Jessica came after her and on the next round, Klaus managed to grab Jessica by her throat and growled at her. "We treat each other with respect in my house, Jessica. You should know your place and it's certainly not amongst Jeri and Bella. Bella could have killed you for her remark, but she chose to bite you. You will not forcibly take the cure from her, and I am not willing to give it to you either. This leaves Jeri to siphon it out of you but from the look on her face; you have some grovelling to do. Choose your words wisely because she might not feel charitable either." Then, as if she was a ragdoll, he threw her in Elijah's lap. "You should have taught your toddler better, brother."

Bella bit her lip as she looked at Klaus. His voice had sent pleasuring vibrations through her body, and he was simply irresistible. But was she in trouble for biting Jessica?

"And you," he said as he looked at Bella. Why was she biting her lip? Didn't she know that it was something that could make his insides melt in a good way? "Take your tea and go upstairs, I'll be with you in a moment."

There was a promise in his voice. She nodded as she took her tea and grabbed a piece of toast and headed towards Klaus' study. Bella waited for him in anticipation, and sure enough, once she had finished her tea and her toast, he appeared, his eyes filled with lust. She grinned, she was in trouble alright, but not the kind that immediately popped up in her head. "Sorry?"

"Oh, don't give me that puppy look, Bella," he said huskily as he lifted her up and brought her to his bed. "You were well in your rights to bite her, if you hadn't, I would have."

"Not sorry then," she giggled as she kissed him eagerly.


	21. The Approaching Darkness

She wasn't too happy with the fact that Jeri thought it would be kind to rescue Jessica from Bella's bite. Granted, Jeri waited until the last possible moment but Jessica was saved. And she hadn't learned her lesson, but Bella tried her best not to respond to it. She wasn't violent. Deep down, she knew she wasn't. It was something else entirely to control every impulse, every emotion. It was hard, she had more than enough experience with it, but it was hard. She didn't like the aggressiveness she felt in her bones. It wasn't like her.

It took a couple of weeks to level out for her, Jeri and Jessica and she was amazed by the constant patience the Mikaelsons showed them. Bella felt as if she had gone from one extreme to the other emotionally and was glad it was all over. Klaus had gone and found the rest of the vampires that had been around Carlisle and was about to return and she couldn't wait.

Bella was sitting in the courtyard with Rebekah, browsing through fashion magazines because Rebekah wanted to go shopping again when a whiff of death wafted to her. She scrunched her nose, it didn't smell like any leftovers from the basement, besides, those had been cleared out. This was more pungent, almost as if it was on her skin. "Do you smell that?"

"Smell what, darling?" Rebekah flipped another page in her magazine.

"I don't know, I can't tell, but it's smelly. Like rotten fish."

"We're in the middle of the French Quarter, you should be familiar with the smells wafting through here by now," she said amused. "Oh, this dress is lovely!"

"No, it's not that, it's something else. Can you look down the street and see if-"

"No, I'm not going to, it's probably nothing. Look at this dress!" Rebekah nearly pushed the magazine in Bella's face. "I think it would suit you perfectly."

Bella grabbed the magazine with a huff and looked at the dress. "No, you'd look great in that." She then handed the magazine back and got off her chair. She was going to walk to the opening from the courtyard to the street and take a peek. That's it. She wasn't going outside, just to have a look.

She took a deep breath and stopped a few steps away from the exit, there were still a few steps to go until she'd be toe to toe with the pavement. People were passing her by with smiles on their faces, tourists. The music from the street was louder now. She applauded their bravery while she could feel her heart beat faster and faster, almost as if it was pounding out of her chest if she didn't back away. She gasped in another breath before taking a step closer and was then surprised to stare into the face of Peter, former bodyguard and gentleman of the bedchambers of Edward Cullen.

Backing away, slowly, she knew she had been right; the streets were dangerous, and now Peter was standing there. Dressed in a hoodie in an attempt to hide the sparkle. And she then remembered she now had vampire speed. She turned around and quickly ran to Klaus' study to hide out.

It was Peter; she had nothing to be afraid of, he had always helped her but it was still Peter. Peter who looked after Edward. Peter, who she sent Rosalie to, because Peter was nice, or maybe that had been something she'd been telling herself to make things easier on her. She opened the French doors to the balcony and kept an eye on the entrance. So far, he hadn't made an attempt of going in, not even after seeing her.

Bella could see that Rebekah had now gotten to her feet and was now heading towards the entrance. Bella was quietly willing her to turn back. While Peter had always taken care of Bella when he could, he was still one of them. She didn't want Peter to hurt Rebekah. What if Peter was here on Edward's orders to get her back? Peter wouldn't do that, would he? He'd flat out refuse!

"Forgive me for not properly greeting you," Rebekah's voice sounded. Bella wished she could see the exchange instead of hearing it. "But who are you and what do you want?"

"My name is Peter Whitlock, and I don't mean any harm," Peter replied in a velvety smooth voice that came with the package.

Rebekah huffed. "Let me be the judge of that. What was your position with them?" Bella's hasty exit had spoken volumes; she didn't need to be a genius to figure out that Peter had been in Bella's life.

"I'm ashamed to say that I was forced to be Edward's lackey, taking care of all his needs. But wait… Bella's turned?" Peter sounded confused, or astounded, Bella couldn't really tell. "Wow, what are the odds."

"Explain yourself."

"Do I have to? Surely you know about the experiments they did on her. But to find the one person who could actually save her? That's… well, for a lack of a better word, incredible."

Rebekah let out a low growl. "What do you want?"

"I mean you or Bella no harm, I promise. You can ask her, I have never hurt her. I was offered her many times, but I only accepted so she could sleep, take a breather from what was happening to and around her. You can validate my story with her."

"Yeah, well, she hasn't been entirely forthcoming about her past like that as she thinks it should remain buried. You still haven't answered my question."

"I've been protecting Bella as well as I could from my end. We've been covering our tracks and feeding the family misinformation, but I believe that our time is up. There's no immediate danger, so there's no rush. I'll come back when she's ready for me. When you've been able to validate my story with her," he spoke kindly. "I'm staying at this hotel for the next few days. That's my name and room number."

"That's it?"

"What do you mean?"

"No offense but the mere thought of a Cold One associated with them makes my skin crawl. You're not pushing it. You're just saying, here I am and talk to me when possible."

"Of course. I have no hidden agenda, and as I said, it can wait. I can understand why she's scared, even when I've never laid a hand on her. It brings back memories, and not particularly good ones. Why would I want to traumatize her even further?"

"Very well. You shall have to wait until my brother gets home, and I expect him back shortly. He'd want to have a chat before he'd allow you to talk to her."

"I understand. Have a good day, miss."

It took a few minutes before Bella could hear Rebekah's voice again. "I can't believe he tipped his invisible hat to me," she muttered as she walked back into the courtyard, looking up at Bella. "You okay up there?"

Bella nodded.

"Any chance of you coming down again any time soon?"

She shook her head in response.

Rebekah sighed and shrugged. "I'll have someone bring you something to drink. I'll give Nik a call to see where he's hanging out."

~o.O.o~

Klaus returned late in the evening and Bella couldn't be happier about it. She felt as if she could finally breathe again. However, his body language was tense when she ran down to greet him and didn't dare to hug him. Rebekah had called him and told him about Peter, hadn't she?

"Wipe that confused look off your face and kiss me, woman," he smiled at her, opening his arms for her to disappear into. "I'm simply a little bit frustrated because there's still one vampire missing. Imagine my surprise that nobody I encountered wants to tell me who it is," he said as he put his arms around her and softly kissed her. "It's a woman and they're all afraid of her. Any idea who it is, love?"

"She's probably dead," she replied with a shrug. "She liked getting on Edward and Carlisle's nerves. I think I only saw her once or twice."

"Ah, so she does exist!" Kol said cheerfully. "That makes the hunt so much more entertaining."

"Do you remember her name?"

Bella shook her head. "I'm just glad you're home again. I don't like it when you leave."

"You could have come with Kol and I, that would have been fun."

She let out a low growl and hugged him tighter. "I couldn't even breathe anymore while being a few steps away from the pavement today, that wasn't fun."

"Well, I could always compel that fear out of you."

"I might have to take you up on that offer…"

He put his arm around her and guided her towards the stairs. He needed a shower, and he needed his bed. He also needed his Bella to be present in his bed. "Rebekah told me you had a visitor today?"

"No, I ran away."

"I thought Peter was the good one? You told me about him."

"I wasn't so sure anymore," she murmured. "I don't know; maybe I was making it up to make myself feel better, or maybe he was a good one, and I just panicked."

He smiled as he took her to his study. "A hybrid who's afraid of her own shadow."

"Hey!"

"Well, it's true, isn't it?" he said teasingly. "You could have easily put him into his place and perhaps even damaged him if you wanted to, and you chose to bolt."

"That's not fair."

"It's alright, love, I didn't want you to talk to him by yourself in any case." He closed the door and kissed her. "I'd rather have you not interact with any Cold One at all if I could help it, but Rebekah said that he had something of importance to tell you?"

"Are you going to entertain him and invite him over for a talk?"

"If he was as courteous as my sister said, then yes. If he was an idiot like Jacob… then yes. We'll kill him afterward if needed."

~o.O.o~

She still wasn't happy that Klaus wanted to hear Peter out, but she was happy about the fact that Peter came looking for her. It was a bit strange if she had to be honest. She wanted to show him that she was doing well, and then maybe he could go away again. They were sitting in the courtyard, a beautiful, open space and plenty of places where the rest of the family could observe without being noticed too much. To Bella, this somehow felt a lot safer as well rather than being inside the communal den. At least she had lots of places to run to if needed.

But who was she kidding? Klaus was right, she was more than capable of handling herself. Kol, Elijah, and Rebekah had taken it upon themselves to assure her of that and given her some additional training but not much. The best part about being a vampire, or in her case, a hybrid, is that she now possessed natural vampiric and wolf instincts that would come out if she had to fight for her life. She wasn't as fragile as she used to be.

While they waited, she and Klaus were having tea with mini pastries and Bella nearly ate them all before even finishing her drink. They were that good. Or perhaps she was that nervous. What was it that he wanted?

"Stop fidgeting, love," Klaus said as he took a sip of his tea. "We're simply going to have a nice cup of tea with an old friend of yours. You said you loved him like you love Kol, so why are you so anxious?"

"Because I'm not sure if I was right in my assessment, despite him taking care of me?"

Klaus smirked at that. "Careful love, don't want to become too paranoid. Granted, I only want to talk to him to learn more about the Cullens and how they work, but he's your friend. You told Rosalie to go and find him, did you not?"

She sighed and nodded. "You're right. I have nothing to be afraid of." Bella popped another mini pastry in her mouth and relaxed in her chair. "He should be scared of me now."

"Exactly."

"And his kind of vampires don't drink human things, so I doubt he'd love a cup of tea."

"Blood then, we're all civil here."

"Yay, blood," Bella giggled.

"Oh, don't you start, you just had your shot," Klaus said playfully. While all of them were drinking alcohol to stave off the hunger, even the former Mormon virgin, Bella's first experiences with alcohol wasn't all that great. Sure, with alcohol in her system, her inhibitions fell away, and she was less collected and certainly unable to control certain urges, driving Klaus bonkers.

But she also couldn't function very well, her tolerance even as a hybrid was incredibly low. They then decided that they'd ease her into drinking and give her a shot of blood every couple of hours to stave off the hunger. This assured them that she wouldn't accidentally grab a human off the street as it passed the courtyard entrance. And maybe, once or twice, slip in a tablespoon of booze in her blood or drink to get used to it.

Bella blinked when she saw Kol run passed and followed him with her eyes. He seemed to pull someone off the street and shoved him straight up a wall. "Kol!"

"You have a lot of nerve coming here, mate," Kol said as he looked Peter straight in the eye. "My brother may want to entertain the idea of you and him having a chat, but I'm against it."

"Kol, stop!" Bella repeated and wanted to get off the chair, but Klaus shook his head.

"Leave him, he has some issues to work through as well."

"I don't want him to kill him! Peter protected me, just like Kol's doing now!"

"It's okay, Bella," Peter said calmly as he kept his eyes on Kol. "Search my mind then, Kol. I know that traditionals can do that."

"Don't mind if I do," Kol said with a growl and put his hand against Peter's head so he could dig in.

" _She's all yours, Peter, have fun." Edward closed the door behind him as he left._

 _Peter turned and looked at the young, naked girl in front of him and sighed. "Alright, Kitten, let's get you into something warmer than your skin." He walked over to the dresser and grabbed one of Edward's shirts and pulled it over Bella's head. "How's that?"_

 _It was almost as if she didn't notice the new cloth on her as she looked up at him from her position on the floor with a small smile on her face._

" _No. We've been over this, I won't do that to you. Get on the bed and sleep."_

 _The girl scrambled to her feet and ran to the bed, laying down as she obeyed Peter's order. Sighing, he ran his hand through his hair. "One of these days you need to start trusting me that I'm not like them, Bella."_

 _~o.O.o~_

" _Oh man, you should have seen her yesterday," Jacob grinned as he fell in step with Peter. "Edward sure knows how to give out rewards."_

 _Peter smacked Jacob against the wall. "It's Prince Edward or simply the Prince for you, kid," he said with a growl. "Remember your position."_

" _Whatever."_

" _And fucking the Royal concubine? Show some respect!"_

" _He gifted her to us!"_

" _I don't care. She's a tool, but that doesn't mean you should not respect her or the Royal family. Your father raised you better than that."_

" _Shut the fuck up," Jacob pushed Peter away from him. "You know nothing."_

" _I know enough."_

 _~o.O.o~_

" _I don't care who you are," Kol growled as he pointed at the room behind Peter. "That's a human girl you're exploiting."_

" _And your point?" Peter raised an eyebrow. "If I'm not mistaken, your position is even lower than the guards. Why should I listen to you? Because you're older? Because you're a traditional? You want a sip of her yourself? Why are you even here?"_

" _Because it's inhumane to treat her like that."_

" _To you, maybe. To us? Not so much. She's a great fuck. I'm sure if you behave yourself; you might get a shot at her."_

 _Kol punched Peter in the face and then skulked off. "We're not done."_

" _I think we are," Peter called after him with a smile on his face before entering Edward's bedchambers. "Right, kitten, I think that was all of them. Did you have a nice shower?"_

 _Bella nodded._

" _Good. I got you some fruit. Have at them," he handed her the apple and a handful of cherries before returning to the door. "No one should disturb you today, I told them you weren't feeling too well, that things could get messy. Get some sleep after you've done eating, alright? I'm going to pick up Edward from the Airport."_

 _Bella nodded, the blank expression on her face never changed, he wished it would. But maybe he should feel fortunate that she wasn't trying to have sex with him anymore._

 _~o.O.o~_

 _Peter watched as the wolf handed Bella over to Kol and sighed relieved in the midst of the chaos. Kol was a good vampire; Peter hadn't been quite able to read him correctly but he trusted him enough. He wouldn't do anything to hurt her. The wolf, however… he wanted to keep the girl all to himself._

 _At least now she had a shot at surviving the rest of her life._

 _Edward and Carlisle were being taken away by the police; not that a human prison would hold them for long, and Peter snuck back in to free his best friend and his friend's wife before making a run for it themselves._

" _He'll find her," Alice said as they headed towards the nearest woods to quickly feed before making a quick getaway._

" _Don't worry, between the three of us we can keep her safe."_

 _~o.O.o~_

 _Alice gasped as she dropped her shoes. They were going to move today as Peter suspected someone was hunting them, but she wasn't quite sure who or what. "Something's changed. I- I can't see her anymore!"_

" _Relax," Jasper picked up her shoes and handed them back to her. "Focus on someone else."_

" _I can't. They know how my gift works. They know how all of our gifts work."_

" _Where is she?" Peter said as he looked out the window. "Rose should have been here by now."_

" _I don't know, but I do know that we have to move, I'll try to find her again when we're safe," Alice said urgingly. "He can't find her. Even if it's the last act that I'll do, she will not go back to that life again."_

" _We all agreed on that," Jasper said as he helped Alice into her shoes. "Let's go."_

"You fucker," Kol said as he released Peter and took a step back. "You absolute wanker!"

"That's me," Peter said with a smirk. "Am I okay to walk in now?"

He grunted, turning away with a wave of his hand as his only permission. Falling into the seat beside where Bella had been sitting, he scowled as he glared at the table as if it had scorned him personally. Kol thought about the information he pulled from the Cold One's head, not sure if it would be wise to share it with his newborn friend.

"Peter Whitlock pleased to meet you," he extended his hand to Klaus with a smile on his face. "I must say, I'm more than thrilled to find out that Bella ended up with the one person who could save her. It sure explains why she dropped off Alice's radar! And you got her to talk! How amazing is that!"

"I'm right here!" Bella snapped her fingers in front of Peter's face, just as Jeri had taught her to. "I'm not invisible!"

Klaus eyed her. "You should stop picking up Jeri's bad habits, love."

"Hey, I take offense to that," Kol huffed. "Jeri's nothing but a positive influence on her."

"My apologies, kitten," Peter smiled at Bella. "You are most definitely visible, and you look fabulous. I'm glad to hear your voice."

Klaus growled possessively at Peter's nickname for Bella. "You wanted to talk; please tell us whatever you wish."

Peter smiled at that as he sat down in the empty chair and lowered the hoodie, the shade wasn't too bad. "The night that Bella came to live with you - and I'm glad you didn't turn her away, I freed Jasper Whitlock and Alice Cullen from their incarceration and we ran. I'm sure that Bella's told you about them?"

"A little," Klaus replied. "Neither Bella nor my brother have been very forthcoming about what happened."

Peter sucked in a breath as he looked at the two in question. "While I understand, it's also important that you know everything that needs to be known, even if it concerns some… stories that should remain unspoken. Jasper and Alice were imprisoned because they couldn't be killed; they were family after all. On top of that, they're special. Alice can see the future based on decisions people make, and Jasper can influence other people's emotions. Carlisle wanted to use Jasper's power during Bella's… training, but he flat out refused. He and Alice were going to try to overthrow the rule of Carlisle and Esmé for a better life, but they were caught off guard and dragged off. In prison, they were safe. Jasper would influence every person who'd come too close to them and managed to ensure that he and Alice were untouchable. Of course, I made sure they didn't die from starvation. The night of the raid, I broke them out, and we fled, knowing that they'd come after us and wanting to use us for our gifts to bring back Bella."

"Are you saying you're here to take her back? Because if so, you should be lucky if I let you leave in one piece," Klaus threatened. "She isn't going anywhere."

"No, we're here to help fight them. They're close, and they won't stop until they have what they want and that's Bella."

"Why are they so obsessed with her, though?" Kol asked. "Not that we wouldn't be because she's an amazing girl and Klaus is rather fond of her, but why her?"

"Well, for one, Carlisle put all his time and effort in experimenting on her, making her into what she became. Two; Edward has a one track mind. He's obsessed with Bella, mostly because she's the only human he's come across whose mind he can't read. Thirdly; Carlisle wants to continue his experiments and Four; Carlisle wants his son to be happy, and as long as Bella isn't home, Edward isn't happy."

"Do they know what she is?"

"No," Peter smirked. "And that's the beauty of it all, isn't it? They think that Bella is hanging around with run off the mill traditionals, easy to get. I knew that Kol was someone else, he claimed to be an ordinary vampire, but I knew he was special because I couldn't get a good read on him. All the other regular traditionals that crossed my path were simple to crack, but Kol? No. Which was why I told Jacob to hand Bella over to him and hoped that I was right in my assumption that he would take her to you. The one person who could save her, to show her what it's like to live."

Klaus' interest was peaked. "You've crossed paths with the other vampires?"

"Oh yeah, you killed them all, didn't you?" Peter smirked. "Well done! What about the female? Did you manage to find her?"

"I know that there's a female. I keep wondering who the hell that female is but no one is talking; they seem to be afraid of her."

"Well yeah, Katherine Pierce was a definite piece of work."

Both Kol and Klaus growled loudly. "What the hell?"

"You know her?"

"Oh, Nik knows her intimately. So does our brother Elijah."

"What?" Bella blinked at Klaus.

"You knew her name! You said you didn't remember!" Klaus looked at her. "Why didn't you tell me her name?"

Her eyes furrowed as she stared at him. "I didn't want to remember! You know how badly those memories hurt! So what if I had a hard time saying the name of one of my tormentors! You knew her?! Did you have her too?" She questioned, hurt crossing her face as she stood from her seat and backed away from him.

"I'm old, Bella. Katherine is old, too. There aren't a lot of us, of course, we've crossed paths."

"Nik had to woo her, at least that was what I've been told," Kol explained as he looked at Bella, who looked ready to run or take a bite out of Klaus. "She was critical in breaking the curse before she decided to become a vampire as she didn't want to die, and Klaus had to wait for another doppelganger."

She growled angrily as she turned her hazel eyes on her friend. "More secrets? What more is there? Any more surprises?"

"He had a fling with a blonde teenager," Kol said with a shrug. "Quite obsessed he was."

"Kol!" Klaus sneered.

"What? You obviously neglected to mention all of this. In all your history lessons, you never even thought about telling her about your conquests?"

"Did you tell Jeri?"

"Of course I did," Kol huffed. "But she also knows that we're old, and as it turns out, she's not a saint herself. Blatantly eye fucking you while I'm standing right next to her… That was such a turn on… and a turn off at the same time."

"You are so awesome," Peter said in awe as he looked at the brothers. "When this is all over, can I come and live here with you? Share the joy?"

"Stay out of this," Klaus said defensively.

"Another surprise might be that Klaus just loves his threesomes."

"Kol!"

"Come again?" Bella questioned, her face carefully composed as she looked at her boyfriend, or whatever he was to her.

"Oh, he only told you the good bits, didn't he?" Kol said with glee. "Klaus the saint. Klaus the misunderstood Mikaelson. Klaus the haunted, Klaus the hunted… Klaus the victim. Well, let me tell you, Bella if you remember all the things I've told you about myself, he's worse. Did he tell you that he and my siblings liked to keep me in my coffin? Boxed up with a dagger in my chest?"

"Jeri mentioned something about that," she murmured quietly.

"Oh yeah, but it was worse for our brother Finn, who… well, he was a goody two shoes and a mummy's boy, and we all didn't like him but still. Who does that?"

"I think I need... I um... Where's Jeri?" Bella asked.

"Bella, don't do this, let us resume our chat with your friend," Klaus said with a small smile on his face. He might dagger Kol for this. It was a shame that he needed to discuss it with Rebekah and Elijah first, and since they were watching in the shadows, they were probably going to take Kol's side on the matter.

Her eyes flashed amber as she glared back at him when she growled. "Not now. You get what you need from Peter. You and I will speak later when I'm not so angry with you," she responded.

"Bella."

"No," she growled again and stomped off when she saw Jeri standing on the stairs. "He's a pancake face! A big pancake face with a giant pickle!"

"I know sweetie, all men are fat sausages," Jeri put an arm around her. "And he's the biggest one."

"Yes!"


	22. State of Urgency

Peter had been quietly observing the brothers and Bella and was surprised at her eyes, how they flashed amber instead of red, a color he came to associate with traditional vampires. "Tell me about Bella. She's not an ordinary vampire, is she?"

"No, she's not," Kol said, his eyes fixed on his brother. "My girlfriend spent days, weeks, even, trying to figure out what exactly had been done to Bella when it comes to the magic that made her… almost immune to dying and resistant to turning."

"I always wished that they wouldn't have done that. It was torture to see her so drained afterwards. I can't imagine what her heart must have looked like after a few arrests. Carlisle always managed to get it pumping again and fill her up with blood."

"The potion he had given her ensured that no matter what blood entered her body, it would magically turn into a bastardized version of Nik's. Additionally, some of his genetic makeup was absorbed into her. Not changing her one bit, but enough to have her werewolf side triggered when she killed."

"So she's not a vampire?"

"Oh, she is. She is what we call a hybrid. Nik's one, obviously."

Peter's eyes widened as he realized what the information meant. "When exactly did she change?" He asked curiously.

"Around six weeks ago."

The Cold One couldn't help but laugh as he scratched the back of his head. "Well, that explains why Alice suddenly couldn't see her anymore. Shit. Wow... Holy fuck!"

"What?" Klaus said as he took a sip of his alcohol, grateful that one of the servants had been observant enough to bring one over. She deserved a raise.

"Alice does have limitations to her gift, no matter how powerful she thinks she can be. Rather annoying, the little bitch can be but she's my friends wife. What can I say? In any case, Alice can't see wolves. Which explains why she hasn't been able to keep an eye on Bella to make sure she was alright. We almost came back when that red head took off with her, but she assured Jasper and I that she saw one of you there to handle her. It wasn't one of you from who she described."

"Interesting," Klaus said thoughtfully. "Bella sent her mother your way. I hear you talk about this Alice and Jasper, but nothing of Rosalie. She never arrived, did she?"

"Sadly, no," Peter said regrettably. "We found her head on a pike just outside Baton Rouge and the area around it was smouldering so…" he took a deep breath. "We buried her remains in a field."

"Baton Rouge?"

"As I said, they're very close, it's only a matter of time before they find her."

"Not necessarily," Kol said as he thought. "Jeri might know a spell or two to cancel out Bella's scent, hide the compound from prying eyes."

"Or you could leave."

Kol snorted. "That one time in the Bayou after Jessica took her, shook her up even further. She doesn't dare to set foot outside, and we're not going to compel her to do so."

"She may not even be capable of being compelled any longer," Klaus murmured. "None of us have attempted it since she has turned. She hasn't had the usual turning, why should she be the same in that sense?"

"You reckon she's like us but with the weakness of an ordinary vampire?"

"I'm not willing to test that theory," Klaus said reluctantly.

"Well, I am," Kol smirked as he got to his feet. "Hey, little mooner?! Would you like to come down for us and have me test something on you?"

"Does that involve grabbing Klaus' cherries and squishing them?" Bella popped up from the balcony.

Jeri flashed to her side and leaned on the railing, narrowing her eyes at her boyfriend. "What are you looking to do to her?"

"Just a theory. Figuring something out. Harmless and you can be a witness if you don't trust us."

"You are not going to dagger her, you asshole!"

"No," Kol rolled his eyes at her. "Something far less traumatic. You see, daggering isn't the only thing that sets us apart from other vampires, babe."

She looked to Bella and shrugged a shoulder, knowing it was her decision if she wanted to go through with what the idiots wanted to try. "It's up you. I'll fry their asses if they pull something shady."

"Fine," Bella muttered. "As long as you do it, Kol, and not that banana of a Klaus."

"She's not swearing?" Peter snorted as Klaus rolled his eyes.

"She calls us food related things as an insult, but I think that comes from her obsession with it," Kol shrugged. "It's quite endearing, really."

Bella and Jeri went downstairs again, and Bella ignored Klaus, going immediately towards Kol. "I'm here, what do you want me for?"

"You know how we can compel humans and other vampires, don't you? Jessica did it to you, and I did it to Jessica."

"Yes…" Bella said slowly, not liking the direction this was going.

"We haven't tried to compel you after you turned. Can I please try?" Kol smiled at her. "I promise I won't let you do anything you wouldn't want to do in the first place or something bad. Jeri will keep an eye on you and will fry our asses when I do something stupid."

Bella let out a breath and nodded. "Fine."

He got to his feet and looked her in the eyes. "Bella, I know my brother is an asshole, but you must forgive him for not telling you about Katherine and his other conquests."

Bella was quiet for a moment and saw the hopeful look on Kol's face.

"Do you understand, mooner?" he caressed a strand of hair out of her face, giving her the perfect opportunity to retaliate and bit his arm. "Ouch!"

"Yeah, right," Bella huffed. "Try that on me again and I'll find Niklaus' stake, wherever the mutt is hiding it in this place."

"That's my girl," Jeri said proudly with a big smile on her face. "Did you have to bite him, though?"

"He won't die from it," Bella muttered as she walked away. "Either way, he'll have you or Klaus to cure him if he doesn't want to ride out the insanity. Right now they both need to stay away from me before I'll do worse. And I don't want to do worse."

"I do have to admit, the idea of seeing Kol lose his mind for a while… it opens certain doors," Jeri said with a grin.

"Klaus, please, give me some of your blood," Kol said as he looked at the wound on his arm. "Your girlfriend bit me."

"You decided to want to test a theory on my angry hybrid lover. I think that it's your mistake and not mine," Klaus said, taking another sip of his bourbon. "However, it's safe to say that she is indeed like us. Unless you want to dagger her to test another theory?"

"I don't want to hurt her, Nik," Kol spat at him, waving his injured arm in front of his brother's face. "Give me your blood."

"And neither do I! Which is why I was reluctant to tell her such details that you seemed so happy to divulge! I'm not giving you my blood!"

"Jeri!"

"Fuck off!"

"What did I do to piss you off?"

"Nothing! I'm on Team Bella! Love you!"

"Bella!"

"Walk the plank, Kol, I just bit you, I'm not going to give you my blood!"

"Oh, that was so close to a good swear," Kol grinned as he flopped in his chair and smirked at Peter. "She's got fire."

Klaus took a few moments to compose himself before addressing himself to Peter. "It's safe to say that things are slightly… chaotic at the moment. Would you mind returning tomorrow when hopefully everything's back to normal?"

"Oh, don't mind me, I'm easily amused," Peter said with a big, knowing smile on his face. "But I take it you have a history with Katherine then? It explains why she left all of a sudden when Kol came to live with us."

"Katherine has a long history with all of us, yes," Klaus reluctantly replied. "She's made things miserable for us, and frankly, she's a manipulative bitch."

"And that's mildly put," Kol pointed out.

"But, should our paths cross again, I shall not hesitate to end her," Klaus said truthfully.

"And what about the blonde Kol told Bella about?" Peter smirked.

"Recent but ancient history. No one ever said no to me before, and that intrigued me. Of course, I tried to manipulate everyone around her in retaliation, but still… Bella is where my heart lies, as much as I'm hesitant to share that fact."

"Yeah, she's special, isn't she?"

Klaus nodded as he took another sip of his drink. "Now, about those Cullens."

"Emmett is the one you should look out for. He's the strongest of them, and Bella's adoptive father. However, his head has always been with Carlisle and not with his wife and daughter. If you weren't loyal and disobeyed orders, you'd be destroyed or, if you were human, you were used as a snack. The lie was that they had been kicked out. With the family… well, he set a great example with Jasper and Alice by locking them up. Killing family members was forbidden but he sure as hell could make their lives miserable for as long as he saw fit. Apart from Jasper and Alice, Carlisle created every single member of his family and could brainwash them from the start to be loyal to him, that his way was the only way to survive."

"What about rational thinking?"

Peter shrugged. "Carlisle was their creator, who were they to go against him? Edward's naturally twisted. He likes the attention he gets from Carlisle, the freedom, the presents. He's his favourite son, and they won't let anything, or anyone, stop them from getting their favourite toy back. As for the humans in league with him… Carlisle was, and still is, charming. They worshipped him, them, for their charm, good looks and longevity."

"How fickle."

"Humans are fickle and obsessed with youth. Carlisle used his position as a doctor to gain more followers from all around, as he travels a lot and comes into contact with a lot of people. Whenever he goes, he takes his wife with him and leaves his mistresses at home. He promotes love, unity and wealth. Acceptance."

"How did you end up there?"

Not deterred by the cross-examination, Peter continued. "I wanted to save Jasper from making a big mistake and then had to stay when he got in trouble. I couldn't leave my best friend, my brother, behind. The three, well, four, of us didn't have the power to overturn Carlisle's rule. Now that the tables are turned, and Bella's with you, we might have a chance to get rid of him. I'm sure the Volturi would rather see them gone as well, after all the attention they pulled towards themselves. The cleaners are working overtime."

Klaus slowly nodded. He wasn't sure if he could believe a word the man was saying, but in a way, he liked him. "I have to admit, I'd rather eradicate every single one of you Cold Ones for messing with Bella like that. However, as with any group, there are a handful of good people."

"He's good," Kol muttered. "I read his mind. I believe him."

"We'll have to see about that, but for now, I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. Should you cross me, or hurt Bella in any way, I will not hesitate to kill you like I've killed the wolf."

"It's all good, Klaus," Peter smiled at him. "You'll accept our help then?"

"I think you and your friends have just as much reason to seek revenge as Bella does, as long as she gets the chance to do some damage herself for therapeutic reasons."

"Of course, I'll even hold the fucker down if she can't reach for him."

Klaus smirked at that. "I'd like to meet your associates. Can you bring them here, tomorrow?"

"Of course."

"Then rejoin us tomorrow, I'll make sure you get to see more of Bella."

Kol huffed. "Jeri's siding with her, I won't be too sure about that."

~o.O.o~

Klaus was mildly agitated when Bella didn't join him in his bedroom that night. Kol had slept on his sofa after being kicked out by Jeri because she and Bella were having a girl's night. Kol had started to unravel during the night, moaning and hallucinating, and Klaus had been unable to sleep. He'd wanted to snap his brother's neck or even feed him his blood, but he figured it would be best to wait for Bella's permission. He did not want to suffer the wrath of his love even further. And Rebekah was there too, also siding with Bella. Jessica hadn't been invited, not that she'd mind, she was on the prowl in the city.

He had to restrain himself from scooping up his love at breakfast as she joined them wearing a new dress that looked a little bit more daring than the semi-modest ones she'd been wearing previously. She looked delicious. From the look on Jeri and Rebekah's face, this had been a devious setup.

"Good morning," the girls chorused as they marched in. While Jeri and Rebekah sat down at the table, Bella rounded the table towards him with her vampire face on.

"Love, your bite won't affect me at all," Klaus said with a soft smile. He wasn't sure about that if he had to be honest. No werewolf bite affected him, ever, but Bella was special. It could very well be different.

She sat down on his lap, facing him and tore open a piece of his shirt for easier access. "Shut up," she muttered before she sunk her teeth into his neck.

"What are you…" Klaus managed to bring out before letting out a soft groan. It felt so good to have her drink from him like that, and with her in his lap… Wait, was she staking her claim on him in front of his family? That was ridiculously hot. "Oh, I see…" he murmured before returning the gesture.

"Okay good, now that's over and done with," Kol said as he looked at Jeri. "Care to take care of me, sweetheart?"

Jeri huffed. "In your dreams."

"Well, I've been dreaming about you last night."

"I bet."

"Please, please, please," Kol begged. "I don't want to go through this any longer."

Jeri sighed. "You're pathetic."

"I know!"

"Bella, I know you're kinda busy right now, but he's pathetic."

Bella growled and sunk her teeth into Klaus' neck deeper. Her eyes were closed as she swallowed gulps of his blood, moans echoing through her chest, vibrating against his body.

Klaus put his arms around her and got up from his seat before rushing them to his bedroom.

"Damnit!" Kol whined. "I'm sweaty all over; I look as if I've been yet again resurrected. Not handsome at all and I'm seeing images of you and bloody Davina having sex right in front of me and I just want my bed. Please, Jeri, please."

"Oh for the love of God," Rebekah sighed exasperated. "Cure him already."

"Fine," Jeri grumbled and put her hand on Kol's arm to siphon out the magic.

They were having a quiet breakfast, all trying to ignore the sounds coming out of Klaus' bedroom when their attention shifted to a sniffling, Jessica. While neither of them quite liked her, crying never bode well. Elijah was nowhere in sight. "Are you alright, Jessica?" Rebekah asked as the girl made her way over to her. She looked dishevelled, her makeup obviously runny from the crying, but parts of her outfit were hanging on by a thread. "Did you just come home?"

Jessica nodded as she sat down at the table. "I'll be okay, it's just..."

"What happened?"

"Elijah told me to experience things I've never done before. I went out and partied all night, and it was great! The music, the atmosphere, the alcohol... The attention..." Jessica wiped the tears from her eyes with a big grin on her face. "I spent most of my time in the French Quarter but I met someone who said that there was a lot more fun to be had elsewhere, and I went along with him," she took a sip of the water that Jeri placed in front of her. "Stupid, of course. But I was drunk and didn't care."

"He sent you out on your own?"

"No, I went with Diego and Raoul but I must have lost them somewhere. That party wasn't a party, of course, just that guy. And he was nice at first but then... I think it was another vampire, I wasn't strong enough to fight him off." Jessica started to cry again. "I was so stupid! Elijah is going to kill me; I've really fucked up now!"

Rebekah and Jeri shared a look and sighed. "No, sweetie, I think Elijah will want to hunt the bastard down, just like we want to, it wasn't your fault."

"Do you remember his name?" Jeri asked as she rubbed the vampire's back.

"Eddie. His name was Eddie, and he was new in town."

"Eddie?" Kol blinked, suddenly intrigued. Sure, it was utter distasteful what had happened to Jessica, she didn't need to say it, it was obvious, but by a guy named Eddie? "Do you remember what he looked like?"

"I don't want to!" Jessica said as she pushed herself away from the table. "I'm going to take a long hot bath and pray to God that Elijah won't reject me. Forget this happened. Please."

"Jessica…"

"No!" She squeaked as she backed away from Kol. "Stay away from me! I want Elijah, and just him, and he'll probably kill me for this anyway. Stay away!"

"What the bloody hell is going on?" Klaus called out from his balcony. There was blood trickling down his neck, but at least he had the decency to pull his pants back on.

"Jessica was assaulted last night," Jeri explained as Rebekah followed the upset girl to her room. "By a fucker called Eddie, want to go hunting?"

He looked over his shoulder and immediately felt torn between the idea of a hunt and his Bella, who was sprawled out beautifully naked on his bed.

"I don't think we should," Kol said carefully, ducking when Jeri threw something at him. "Just hear me out!" he said defensively before lowering his voice to barely but a whisper so Bella couldn't hear. "I asked her what he looked like because it might be Edward. I won't know for sure until someone gets inside her head and tells me."

"What the bloody hell do you think I'm doing?" Rebekah's voice sounded. "Keep your shirt on brother."

Kol scowled as he rolled his eyes before looking back up at his brother. "Kissed and made up have you? I hope you two settled your little relationship issues now."

"We didn't have any issues, Kol, but I promised her that I will no longer hide certain aspects of myself to her," Klaus said calmly before closing the French doors again and joining Bella back in bed. If Jessica were assaulted by Edward, then he'd be in a world of hurt. More, really. There was a chance that this Eddie could be him; the Cullens had been close to New Orleans, according to that Peter guy. Maybe he specifically lured Jessica because he read her mind and saw Bella.

If that was the case… Sighing, he softly kissed Bella. "Get some rest, love, I have to deal with something and your Peter is coming by today with Jasper and Alice."

"I'm not tired," Bella said as she put her arms around his neck. "And you don't have to deal with things. Deal with me."

"Oh, but I plan on dealing with you tonight for another round," he grinned and kissed her lips. "I'm just going to make sure that we have enough vampires in the compound should we get unexpected visitors. I'll be back shortly."

"Okay," she said with a long, drawn out sigh. "I'll make myself comfortable then," she lazily stretched herself, arching her body into his as he was hovering over her. A big wide grin appeared on her face. "Are you sure?"

"Minx," Klaus muttered, kissed her again and got off the bed in search for a clean shirt. When he walked into the courtyard, he could smell their guests already. When he turned to the entrance, he blinked. "I thought you wouldn't come round until this afternoon?"

"Things changed, I'm afraid we don't have much time left," Peter replied solemnly. "May we come in so we can talk?"

Klaus nodded as he fumbled his phone out of his pocket and wrote his brother a message to come home immediately. "Rebekah! Kol!"

"Oh goodie, I get to participate!" Rebekah said joyously after making sure that Jessica was comfortable in Elijah's room. She had tried to get inside Jessica's mind, but all she saw was pure, raw emotion and just flashes. It had been unclear to her who her assailant was, but she was going to try again once the girl was asleep. "Where's that wanker of a brother, Nik?"

"On his way."

"Good, he will want to rip apart that asshole who messed with his girl," she muttered before noticing Peter and his friends. "Hello. I'm Rebekah Mikaelson."

"I'm Peter; this is Jasper and Alice."

"Pleasure," she said as she sat down in a chair and crossed her legs over each other as she waited for Elijah to arrive.

"I'm sorry, we can't wait," Peter said, rushed. "We thought we'd have another two months but for whatever reason Edward decided to come into New Orleans. As it was a last-minute decision, Alice couldn't do anything about it. Something happened last night, and he knows that she's here. Not just in the city, but the exact location."

"We know what happened," Kol said with a scowl. "I knew it! It's his thing, isn't it? Scanning people, finding what he needs and then charm the pants off of them, literally, before screwing them over - also literally."

"It's not her fault, Kol. The redhead's mind was easy to read due to her inexperience," Jasper said calmly. "However, we might now only have days if we're lucky. He will come for her."

"Over my dead body," Klaus and Kol chorused and watched as Elijah sauntered in. "Where the hell have you been, brother?" Klaus asked him.

"I've been helping Marcel with setting up perimeters around the city, Niklaus, what have you been doing?" Elijah countered.

"Yeah well, those perimeters are too bloody late! Jessica paid the price for them!" Rebekah snapped.

Elijah blinked at that. "Please explain, sister."

"Your newborn is upstairs resting right now, but she won't let Kol or Nik near her try get a read on who attacked her during her night out, something you encouraged her to take. I could barely get glimpses, nothing concrete. Vampire or not, a girl can still be overpowered by another if she is unprepared," she whispered the end.

Elijah wanted to rush upstairs, but Klaus took hold of his arm. "We need you here right now; you can go to her later," he said gently.

"I thought you said we'd still have some time, Niklaus. Otherwise, we'd have set them up sooner," Elijah looked grief-stricken. Of course, he did, but there wasn't anything he could do at the moment. "I insisted on her having a fun night out with some of Marcel's vampires because I thought it would still be safe for her. I would never do something to intentionally harm her or Bella, you know that, brother."

"I'm in the mood for chicken and waffles," Jeri said as she waved her hand and had things transport themselves from the kitchen to the table. "Oh, don't forget the maple syrup."

The other vampires just looked at the table for a moment and then at Jeri, who merely shrugged, sat down and grabbed a chicken leg to munch on. "I thought you were a vampire?" Peter eventually asked.

"I am."

"But that was witchcraft."

"Yep."

"But how?"

"I'm a hybrid," Jeri shrugged again and continued eating her chicken leg. "Dig in, everyone."

"Don't you understand the gravity of the situation?" Alice blinked at the woman. "They're in New Orleans. The only thing that will surprise them is that they think you're regular traditional vampires. Not hybrids or Originals. They will burst through your defenses, and they will get to Bella."

"And I'm from the Gemini Coven of witches. Klaus and Bella are hybrids. Let the bastard come," she repeated as she stared at the pixie vampire. "One of our own was assaulted by the fucker. Be happy in me not running out there to chase the bastard down on my own. Now don't piss me off!"

"Easy, no need to get angry," Jasper said calmly. "Nothing will be resolved when you get upset."

"Fuck you," Jeri said as she grabbed a waffle and doused it in maple syrup. "I vote for taking action now. Flush them out and tear them apart."

"And you'll die," Alice said sharply after a moment of silence. "Carlisle and Emmett are no doubt hatching a plan to move in swiftly and they don't care about the casualties. Human or supernatural. If we go on the offense, they'll punch through and take Bella."

"As much as I hate waiting and being a sitting duck, a good defense is better than going in with force," Jasper continued. "As Alice said, they think she's with standard traditionals."

Before Klaus could speak up and side with Jeri, Elijah spoke up. "I agree, whenever we've encountered vampires of their kind we never fought them, it was always civil. We don't know what we're up against."

"Well, we could give you some training, you've got three of us here now," Jasper said with a nod. "To have you prepared. How big is your army?"

"We have vampires spread out all over the city, our inner circle has about 30 vampires. I'll have to confer with my lieutenant," Klaus said as he reluctantly took a glass of juice that was on the table. "He knows the exact numbers."

"That's not enough," Jasper blinked. "Against them? No. Not enough."

"I've been trying to get the witches on our side, but Davina's ignoring me for some reason. And if she's not ignoring me, she's stalling," Kol said with a pout. "I used to have such a good relationship with the witches."

Jeri frowned as she eyed him. The information didn't bode well with her, and she always hated whenever the young witch was brought up. "I think I have a spell for protection amulets. I may only be able to create maybe ten of them though to keep you warded from witches magic."

Klaus looked at Elijah and shrugged. "I'm sure Elijah wouldn't mind giving you our mother's grimoire for the day."

"Oh," Kol said in awe. "Yes, please!"

Jeri hesitated as she glanced to the man that protected the relic. "Uhh I'm sure I can come up with spells with what I have," she said, even though she desired deeply to be able to have access to an Original witch's grimoire.

"No, that's alright," Elijah said calmly. "You can have it for the day to see if maybe there's something useful in them to bolster your spells," he continued. "As long as Kol keeps an eye on it."

"You trust me with it?" Kol blinked at his brother. "Honestly, brother, I thought that you found me irresponsible?"

Elijah thought for a moment. "Very well, I'll be in the room."

"I'm… I'm honored, thank you," Jeri eventually said after finding her voice again. Was she going to lay her eyes onto the Original Grimoire? That was like a dream, the holy grail. Every witch' dream and Elijah trusted her enough to show it to her? To have her browse through it? She had died and gone to heaven.

"Very well, let us start planning a defense then," Klaus said as he took his phone to get Marcel back to the compound.


	23. Light Side

She couldn't believe it was real. It was right there, across the room from her and she didn't dare to take a step further towards it. She could feel the magic that the pages contained, and it was exhilarating, frightening and awesome all at the same time. Jeri looked at Elijah, who was quietly talking to Jessica, assuring the girl that she had nothing to worry about and that he was sincerely sorry for encouraging her to live a little.

But still, her attention was drawn back to the grimoire, and she still didn't dare to take a step towards it.

"It won't bite," Elijah said playfully. "Go ahead, Jeri."

"Easy for you to say, Elijah. I have tremendous respect for this book," she said breathlessly, taking a step closer to the book. "The amount of power that radiates from it… it's…"

"Intoxicating?"

Jeri nodded. "I could absorb it all and… but I won't." She rolled her shoulders and took another step closer. "What if I break it? Or accidentally tear a page?"

"I am sure you won't," he smiled at her. "I am pleased to see someone who respects the pages."

It took her a few minutes, but eventually she had her hands on the book. "Here we go," she said breathlessly and opened it.

~o.O.o~

Part of him didn't want to include Bella in their plans of fighting off the Cullens, but she was more than capable of making her decisions. No more keeping her out of things. Besides, this was her fight more than it was theirs.

"Last night Jessica was assaulted by Edward," he said, not knowing how to say it nicely, so he just said it the way that it was. "Peter, Jasper and Alice are downstairs; they're confident that one of these days they will come for you. Jeri's browsing through my mother's Grimoire for extra power and I've instructed Marcel to get all his vampires near the compound."

"Okay," Bella said as she looked at Klaus. She wasn't happy about it, in fact, she wished they wouldn't come for her at all. She was nothing. She was happy with Klaus, and she didn't want to fight. She was scared that she was going to be taken by force, that something would happen to Klaus and the rest of the family. Despite knowing that they were powerful and fast and practically unkillable, she knew the brute force Emmett could use. How conniving Edward and Carlisle could be. There was no doubt that they'd probably gathered more Cold Ones for their cause, even if it were under false pretenses. "I don't like it."

"Neither do I, love, but I have to be honest, if they are as scary as those three downstairs would like to have me believe, then I'm welcoming the fight. It's been awhile since we've had a challenge like that," he said with a smirk. "Of course, Edward's all yours, but you'll have to allow Jessica to get a few punches in."

"I'm scared that something might happen to you," Bella said, feeling a panic attack coming up and she tried to hold it back. She wasn't even scared that something might happen to her; she didn't want him to get hurt. Of course, she didn't want to go back, but she would if that meant that Klaus would be okay. "I could surrender, and you'd be fine."

"No, I wouldn't," he said with a low growl. "I'd tear apart the entire Earth if I had to to find you again. You're not leaving. You're not surrendering, and we are going to kill them all. I'd rather get a little bit hurt in the process than to lose you." Klaus pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. "I'd rather have you not encounter them at all, at least not before we made sure that we won. I'd rather have you see Edward in the basement."

"I don't like fighting, but I will do what I must. They've hurt me. It's time to return the favor, isn't it? Poor little Bella biting their behinds." If Klaus was confident, so could she be, even if she was practically pooping rocks.

"You don't have to fight, love, but you might have to defend yourself if they get to you," he kissed the top of her head. "You'll do brilliantly, look how you punished Jessica and Kol after they angered you. I can only imagine what anger you hold inside of you towards them. I have no doubt that once they get too close to you, you'll be capable of so many things you don't even know you are capable of doing."

"Okay," she let out a deep breath. "Is there anything I can do?"

Klaus thought for a moment. "Well, we're currently heavily relying on the information that Peter, Jasper and Alice are giving us. Do you trust them?"

"I wouldn't go as far as trusting Peter, to be honest. He was kind; he looked out for me, and he never hurt me but believe him? I do think that he's speaking the truth about everything."

"What about Jasper and Alice?"

"I don't know them that well. I saw them maybe once or twice. I wasn't allowed to go to the prisons, so I didn't," she replied as she tried to crawl almost into him. She wanted to be closer. "But I do know that they're gifted. Carlisle occasionally talked about them when it was just him and me."

"But Peter seems to be getting most of his information from Alice."

Bella shrugged. "They're still Cold Ones. All three of them. Peter could have quickly thought of a plan to get Jasper and Alice out of trouble all those years ago, and yet, he stuck around. They could have gotten out and thought of a plan to bring Carlisle down from the outside, but they didn't."

"Because you were there."

"Oh please, this happened before I arrived, this I know."

"You think they stuck around because they didn't like being on their own?"

Bella shrugged. "Isn't that what most people do? Choose between the best options for themselves and stick with their choice even if it's not suitable for them? I think that their allegiance can shift quickly; whoever is strongest, they'll be loyal to."

Klaus thought for a moment as he listened Bella speak and sighed. "I know Cold Ones are crafty wankers but… they genuinely seem to care about you."

"Is it bad that I think for the wrong reasons?"

"No, not at all," he kissed the top of her head. "There are various ways this can all play out and we will have everything covered, I promise."

Dinner that night was slightly awkward with three people at the table who didn't eat. Bella tried her best to ignore them and listen to Jeri gush about spells she'd seen in the unique book and had already started to adjust some to match her own. Something about more protection against the Cold Ones for all of them.

Bella was glad to see that Elijah hadn't abandoned Jessica after what had happened to her. She felt for the girl; she knew how something like that would feel like, and Bella could understand that she felt violated. She hoped, though, for Jessica's sake, that the experience wouldn't stop her from going out and fold into herself.

It was hypocritical, wasn't it? She wanted Jessica to go out and do things, explore, and Bella didn't even dare to leave the compound. Especially after what Jessica had done to her. It had been a horrible experience, and she wasn't sure if she'd be able to set foot on the street without feeling she couldn't breathe anymore.

Not that Jessica would come to talk to her. She had Elijah, and she didn't like Bella all that much, but she was welcome to come to Bella to talk about it if she felt like it. Maybe it would be a good thing to say that to Jessica later and not just as an unspoken promise in her head.

"Can I just say that it's a joy to see Bella interact on a somewhat normal level with you?" Alice smiled as she watched the Traditionals feast on their human food. Even Bella had something to eat and that brought so much pleasure to her, that she was able to do so. "I've seen her in my visions but to see her with my own eyes…"

Klaus let out a growl and pulled Bella's chair closer to him. It unnerved him that even these supposedly 'good' Cold Ones talked about her in the third person. Peter knew better, he should have told Alice about it.

"Didn't you ever lose patience with her when you were teaching her new things?" Jasper questioned, causing Kol to let out a snarl and slightly tense up. He too, was getting annoyed.

"Anyway," Jeri said as she swallowed her last bite. "I think I should have something ready in a couple of hours. We do still have that kind of time, don't we?"

"We suspect he'll try to come as soon as the sun's away. Not today, though. It seems that he's still waiting for some last minute arrivals to his cause," Alice said after a moment of thought. "Other kin, I can see that much."

"It's likely that they're going for complete and utter destruction, the more manpower, the more they think they'll succeed in getting what they want."

Jeri pursed her lips as she looked at Peter. "Their destruction."

"Our bodies are a solid mass," Jasper started to explain. "It's not as if you can simply reach into our chests and pull out our hearts. We need to be torn apart and burned to fully kill us."

"It's that I'll be too busy with protection objects tonight otherwise I would definitely have found my way around that," Jeri muttered as she took a sip of her beverage. "Nothing is unkillable."

Bella thought about what Jasper had said about them being solid mass and wanted to see if she was allowed to try and see if she was strong enough to rip his arm off his torso. Taking a bite off her banana after polishing off her plate, she leaned back in her chair and thought of the whole idea with a small smirk on her face.

Peter smirked when Bella decided that maybe it would be fun to try it on, Alice. "Bella, kitten, you wouldn't be able to."

Bella shrugged as she placed the leaves of the banana on her plate and looked at Klaus, who raised an eyebrow. "I was wondering if I'd be strong enough to tear one of them apart. Or at least an arm."

"You most certainly will be able to," Klaus confirmed with a slight nod, a smile dancing on his lips as he took a sip of his bourbon. "Anyone who thinks differently is severely underestimating you." He handed his glass to her. "One sip."

Smiling up to him, she took the glass and carefully took a sip, scrunching her nose in disgust as the liquid made contact with her tongue and swallowed before handing the glass back. "Can I ask a question?"

"Of course, love," Klaus smiled at her. "No need to ask permission for that."

"I'm just wondering if their vampire venom would hurt us."

"The poison is created by glands in our mouth, Bella. Unless you're planning on biting our mouths, I think you're safe," Peter snorted, but the way he said it felt as if he was belittling her.

She let out a low growl in response.

"We don't have blood in our bodies, it's replaced by something acidic and works as a glue to keep our bodies together or to reattach limbs."

"Then why do you need blood?"

"If we don't, we die. We're vampires after all," Jasper smirked.

"But doesn't your body immediately break down the blood due to its acidity?"

"Don't be silly, Bella," Alice huffed. "That would be just ridiculous."

"No, scientifically you don't make any sense," Bella muttered, all hopes of trying to bite one of them flown out the window.

~o.O.o~

Bella hadn't been able to sleep that night. It wasn't because Klaus wasn't in bed - because he wasn't. He was supervising Jasper's instruction on Marcel's vampires - but it was her usual 'doom thinking' that had caused her being unable to rest.

She had absolute faith in Klaus and his siblings and their vampires to fight the Cullens. They'd been around for a thousand of years. They were older, smarter and had seen more. They knew more. Klaus was a wolf hybrid and Jeri, even though she was a new vampire like Bella, she was a kick ass witch hybrid.

But what was Bella? She didn't quite like violence and the only times she had truly killed someone was Jeri, but with her permission and Bella had been starving. Then as a wolf, but she couldn't remember that. Would it be easier to be a wolf for this? She knew that she was going to be frightened the moment she'd lay eyes on Edward or Carlisle. Emmett, even. She was going to be useless, as always, and she was going to get into trouble because of her panic.

It would be so much easier if she'd stop caring. Stop feeling everything she felt, just like before. Just when she was with the Cullens. Nothing would change, in fact, everything would revert to where she started, but this time, she'd take no shit from anyone. She wouldn't be scared, and she would be able to deal with this.

If only.

She was feeling too much now for her to revert, it was impossible. Well, it wasn't impossible, she'd simply have to adjust her behaviour again, but it'd take days for it to stick - if it would even stick. She didn't have the time to do it.

She'd just have to. She was the most useless vampire hybrid of the family. Even Jessica was more useful because she was enjoying herself and up for anything. Why couldn't Bella be like that?

Giving up on sleep, she got out of bed and started to pace the room.

She could trust them to make sure she wouldn't be taken. She could trust them to fight her battle for her. But she didn't want them to fight her battle for her, it was hers, but despite Klaus assuring her, she feared that Peter was right, that she wouldn't be able to fight them. Peter knew things. He always knew things for a fact, and if he said something, then it must be a fact. He said she couldn't. She wasn't strong enough. Not ruthless enough.

She was Klaus' queen and queens didn't fight. She wanted to change that. Bella wanted to kick Edward's ass and survive the ordeal. She wanted to prove that she was able to be just as capable as every single one of them.

She simply had to become fearless to do so. If not, she'd probably cower away upon laying eyes on them, and that wasn't what she wanted.

What would happen to her if she was taken back by Edward? Or given back because the Cold Ones overwhelmed all the others? Surely now that she was no longer human, they'd come after her, harder. Inject so many drugs into her to keep her compliant that she wouldn't know if she was wiggling her toes or not.

She wrapped her arms around her as she kept pacing. She could already feel their cold, rock solid, hands on her, and it made her feel sick. If she thought about it, she could also feel other things on her body, other body parts, the cold steel of surgical instruments. She could smell what the white room smelled like - sterile. What Edward's chambers smelled like - stale. The basement smelled like pee and alcohol.

Bella made her way to the bathroom to throw up. All the feelings, smells and memories made her nauseous. She wasn't even feeling sorry for throwing up the food she had at dinner. If she was going to go back she needed to lose weight, but she couldn't lose weight anymore, could she now? She was a vampire. Everything was set now.

They would find a way.

They were going to starve her and keep on starving her because the starving wouldn't work. She'd be so hungry, she'd kill every human in sight. Or wanted to, because the drugs would make sure that she wouldn't be able to move a muscle. No, they'd want to keep Bella in one place, controlled and unresponsive. It'd drive her insane.

As she was rinsing her mouth in the sink, a loud bang could be heard from outside, and the entire building shook. Startled, she quickly got dressed and made her way downstairs to Klaus. What if something had happened to him?


	24. Timber

She skidded to a halt next to Klaus and stared at the front gate that was now on the floor in the middle of the courtyard. Looking up at him, she could see that he was angry. When she followed his gaze, she could understand why. There was a quiet standoff going on between the Cullens, as the Cold Ones they brought along and their own vampires. Jeri looked pissed off; it was unlikely that she'd be finished with whatever she was trying to do for them.

"Ah, there she is," Edward quipped and held out his hand for Bella to cross the courtyard and to take his hand. "You're done playing, come."

She took a step back, so she was half behind Klaus. It was strange to see Edward again, it was familiar, but she also felt enraged. The nerve of him coming here to get her was mindboggling. She looked around as she tuned out the voices of Klaus talking to Edward, far removed from polite and she was slightly pushed aside as the family stepped in front of her. To protect her. To make sure that she'd be safe. She believed she heard Rebekah mutter something about Bella had needed to stay hidden to make sure they wouldn't have seen her, and Bella snapped.

Something inside of her, her helplessness, her fear, got replaced by rage, fire coursing through her veins. No more. No more belittling. No one was going to ever lay a hand on her, and she was not going to allow Klaus and his family to fight her battles for her. She was going to do this on her own, even if it would kill her. Growling, she pushed passed Klaus and Kol and ran towards Edward and Carlisle at full speed. She saw the slow smiles on their faces before knocking the both of them over in surprise and landed on top of Carlisle with a smirk on her face.

"No more," she said with a low voice and tore off one of his arms with ease. Esme wanted to come to her husband's rescue while Edward was still on the floor, looking at Bella in shock. "Stay back," Bella warned Esme with a growl, her eyes flashing amber.

She focused back on Carlisle and twirled his arm around in her hand. "Is there anything you wish to say to me, Your Highness?"

"You… you changed?" He said confused, looking up at her as he tried to push her off, but she had her knee firmly on his other arm. Her other hand reached down to wrap her fingers around his throat, squeezing slowly. "Please, Bella, don't."

"Don't? Please?" She blinked at him as her nails dug into his marble skin. She could feel the venom on her fingertips, a funny little nag it was. "Why would I stop? You never stopped when I begged."

"I'm your King."

"Hardly," she huffed as she smacked Edward with Carlisle's arm as he was getting up. "Stay down!" Before Bella knew it, she was launched across the courtyard, right into Kol, but still holding on to Carlisle's arm. She got up with a growl and wanted to go again as the two men scrambled to their feet, but Kol stopped her. "Let me go."

"Well, I now see why Davina wasn't returning any of my calls," Kol muttered as the tiny witch pushed passed the wall of Cold Ones and revealed herself with a devilish smile on her face. He looked down at Bella, an expression on her face that he couldn't quite place. The way she launched herself at her tormentors was unnatural for her. "What's gotten into you? We had this!"

"Jeri, do something about that witch please," Elijah said kindly as he kept an eye on his side of the courtyard. Seeing Bella launch herself at Carlisle and Edward had been a shock to all of them, he found her fortunate that no one of their side attempted to thwart her actions, apart from Davina. Why was Davina on the opposing side? Did she hate Klaus that much?

"Aw," Davina grinned as she put her hands in her side. "I knew it. I knew I was right! Anyway, hand her over Klaus and no destruction has to take place."

"You're making a big mistake, Davina," Klaus warned her. His eyes firmly on the family that tormented his Bella. "Today is not a good day to insert yourself into business you should stay out of."

Jeri zipped to his side at vampire speed as soon as she ripped apart a cold one that attempted to stop her. Her eyes narrowed in hate on the young witch as she stood to support him. "This the witch Kol told me about that you hoped to help you?"

Klaus nodded. "Clearly, she had other matters to deal with."

"Well, aren't you happy that you got me instead now?" She smiled deviously as she laid eyes on her.

"Oh, very much so," he mused before he saw how Kol had no choice but to let go of Bella after she bit him for the second time. He watched her make a run for it again and instead of running straight towards them and thus towards Davina; she made sure she was behind Cold Ones at all times. She grabbed a vampire with the same pixie-cropped hair as Alice and ripped off her head. He fought a smile when she exclaimed a 'yippie!'.

Davina raised an eyebrow, scoffing at their confidence. "You're a vampire. What are you going to do? Turn me at best?"

Jeri grinned, throwing her arm out and sent the little bitch flying into an end table, destroying the trinkets on display. "I can drain you of what you take foolishly for granted..."

"Do it," Kol muttered, hurt by Davina's betrayal and hurt by Bella for yet again biting him. "I'm in the mood to kill. Can we, please, Nik?"

Rebekah blinked as she saw something fly through the air towards them. It bounced a few times on the ground before them and came to a rolling halt at Jessica's feet. Jessica picked it up by the hair and showed it to Klaus. "She beheaded the Queen," she deadpanned before kicking the head into two other vampires on the opposing side. "And it makes for a great soccer ball!"

"What the hell did you do to her?" Edward screamed as he dodged Carlisle's arm again. "She's a wild animal!"

Bella pounced on Edward again, knocking him yet again to the ground but had to duck because he took a swing at her. "Am I going to be the only one who's going to deal with these fucks?" She snarled as Edward pushed her off of him. After getting back to her feet, she grabbed the nearest Cold One and threw her towards the Mikaelsons.

She then used her speed to avoid a one armed Carlisle; he was furious for her killing Esme. But if she had to be honest, Esme had been easy, she wasn't much of a fighter, and more worried about Carlisle than herself and that had been her undoing. Bella grinned, she was having fun as she kept zooming around to dodge Carlisle, running circles around the compound and breaking up the ranks of the Cold Ones.

Jessica looked at Elijah before looking at Klaus and then shrugged. "Screw this, I'm joining her," she said before grabbing the nearest Cold One for a fight.

Jeri was on top of Davina; her hand pressed to her forehead as she used her strength to keep the girl down. She had so much power in her; it was intoxicating. A pure witch. Jeri sensed that if Davina would have had the potential to become a regent for the covens in New Orleans. And aside from that, also that she was power hungry, which explained why she was on the side of the - on the surface - unkillable vampires.

Klaus was still standing there, in shock. Did Bella just swear? Kol sped off after Jessica after making sure that Jeri was having fun with Davina safely, and Marcel's vampires advanced as well. It soon became a mess. Body parts were flying around, a handful of vampires from Klaus' army were sprawled over the floor. While Klaus was very much in the moment as he pulled apart the bigger one of the Cold Ones, Peter informed him that it had been Emmett, Bella's adoptive father; he had to focus not to get distracted by Bella's swearing.

Of course, he kept an ear out for her. The moment she'd say help or no more, or if she'd scream, he'd be by her side. However all he could hear was her cursing someone and telling them to stay away because she was busy. And it was bloody arousing.

"Jessica, no!" Marcel's voice sounded, causing Klaus to turn around to see what the vampire was doing. "Oh, no, why did you do that? She was one of ours! That was Alvarez!"

"She attacked me!" Jessica said defensively. "Of course I kill her!"

Klaus grunted when Emmett hit him in the face and caused him to momentarily lose his footing and was shoved up against the wall. "Are you taking care of my girl?" Emmett asked as he punched the wall next to him. "Is she alright?"

"She's fine mate," Klaus grumbled as he tried to push Emmett off of him with his feet. "Why would you care?"

"She's my girl," the vampire replied as he loosened his hold on him. "And I am sorry for what my family has put her through. But right now, I'd like to be with my wife. It's over. We're losing."

"You are, but I'm not going to put you out of your misery without a fight."

Emmett smirked as he grabbed hold of Klaus' shirt and threw him across the courtyard. "Wasn't planning on making it easy for you," he replied as Klaus slid down the wall onto his ass. "Look at you, a flying monkey!"

Klaus let out a loud growl as he rose to his feet, his eyes flashing from red to amber as he stormed at Emmett and slammed him into the nearest wall. "How dare you treat Bella the way she's been treated for her entire life? How dare you take away her light? She is a beautiful human being, and you tore her apart, layer for layer until there was nothing left of her. For what? Your own curiosity? Mate, I'm no saint, but what you did is utterly deplorable. Even I have my limits." Emmett was trying to break free, so Klaus tore off one of his arms and shoved him back against the wall, holding him in place with his arm. "You were her father. What father allows his child, his daughter, to be treated like that?"

"Niklaus."

Klaus threw Emmett's arm on the discard pile and tore off his head before turning around to look at his brother. "What, Elijah?"

"I think we're done."

He observed the carnage and slowly but steadily a broad grin appeared on his face. All the Cold Ones were scattered across the floor, and he was glad to see that most of their vampires were still on two feet. Davina was a crumbling mess in a corner, but still alive. His family looked dishevelled but in one piece, all wearing the same triumphant smile.

His grin turned into a frown when he noticed Bella wasn't present. And neither were the remains of Edward Cullen. "Where is she?" He tried to catch her scent, but there was too much disruption in their courtyard scent wise that he was unable to smell her. "Spread out, look for Bella!" he said as he rushed to his study. When she wasn't there, he could feel anxiety and panic rise in his chest. He rushed to her room, but she wasn't there either, and the basement was empty too.

"Anyone! Tell me you found her?" He demanded as he marched into the courtyard, kicking away one of the bodies.

"There is no sign of her, Niklaus," Elijah replied calmly.

"Don't act all calm, Elijah," Klaus pointed at his brother, furious. "Something has happened to my Bella, and she's not inside!"

"It wasn't me!" Jessica quickly objected as she stared at them, wide eyed. "I swear, I didn't touch her!"

"We know, Jessica, don't worry," Elijah said in the same voice he had used on Klaus only a moment before. Something inside of Klaus snapped, and he kicked against the remains of Carlisle.

"Marcel, have your vampires clean this mess up. We're going on a hunt!" With that, he stepped outside of the compound and surprisingly caught a whiff of Bella. She was outside. "Bloody hell!" he cursed as he followed her scent, slowly. She was zigzagging through New Orleans, it seemed. There were clusters of a stronger scent as if she'd been reading the road signs, but then again, he doubted that she could have read it.

The fucker took Bella, and he needed road signs to tell himself where he was going. Where in the bloody hell was he taking her? "I'm going to tear up the wanker, limb from limb," he growled as he was joined by Kol and Jeri. "I swear, there won't be a piece of him left if he's hurt her again."

"We're right with you, brother," Kol said encouragingly. "Elijah and Rebekah stayed behind to help clean up. We just thought it wouldn't be a great idea to have you go off all on your own."

"Thank you," he muttered, still wondering what was going on as they turned another corner before finding the main road. He was just about to start running when Peter ran up to them.

"She's at a forested area with water; Alice saw Edward make a decision, something about giving up. I don't think Edward took Bella, but it's likely that she took him."

"That's nonsense, Bella doesn't dare to leave the compound," Kol huffed.

"Well, it's obvious that she did," Peter pointed out. "Try the Bayou, I'm going back to help clean up."

"Thank you, Peter," Jeri smiled at him and nudged him away with her magic. Siphoning all the magic out of Davina and into herself had left her with a high, and she loved it. It sucked that she was now on the hunt for Bella when she'd rather had taken Kol away for the fuck of his life while they were both still riding an adrenaline high. Although, of course, it was imperative that Bella returned, Jeri couldn't imagine what Klaus would do if something would happen to the girl.

When they set foot in the Bayou, a handful of bodies were piled up on display for all to see. Bella's scent was all over them.

"Someone was hungry," Jeri deadpanned.

"Careless," Kol added as he observed the artwork. "Although, it is absolutely beautiful, they're piled up like an asterisk. As if she was saying; 'here's a gigantic footnote!'."

"This is unlike Bella," Klaus muttered worriedly. Sure, the fighting had drained them all and had them all wanting to feed to gather their strength, but this was overkill and, from what he could see, these weren't criminals either.

A male scream cut through the woods, causing the three of them to head towards the sound and were surprised to find Bella standing over parts of Edward. His head was still attached to his torso, but his arms and legs were in pieces laying next to him, and she had gotten a good chunk out of his chest as well. Klaus was surprised the vampire was still alive and fear was in his eyes. "Bella, love?"

"Oh, such a shame, I wanted to do this on my own," Bella sighed as she wiped her hands on her pants. "Oh well, you're here now. Want to have a go at him?"

"What are you doing?" Her behaviour had Klaus worried, and he could hear Kol suck in a breath too.

"I'm taking my revenge. What does it look like?" She rolled her eyes at Klaus and reached for Edward's genitals. "One second, let me shut him up." She took hold of the base of his dick and tore it off before shoving it in his mouth. "There. You know, the venom doesn't even hurt that bad. It's a slight tingling sensation, quite pleasurable." Then a wicked grin appeared on her face. "Want to fuck me? Have him watch?" Her eyes lit up at her suggestion.

Jeri looked at Bella in shock. "Who are you and what have you done to Bella?"

"Oh, you know, somewhere. I don't care. It's so much more fun to be fearless, isn't it? To be one of you. To be able to take care of yourself. Take your revenge on the assholes who made your life a living hell," She kicked against Edward to prove a point.

"Bella, you killed innocents today," Kol said as he observed her.

She thought for a moment and shrugged. "I was hungry. Did you like the art, Nik?" Bella stepped over Edward and approached her lover. "Let Elijah deal with the mess, he always does that, doesn't he?"

"Ummm...ummm..." Jeri muttered as she tried to process what she was hearing and seeing as she looked around. "It's almost like she flipped her switch or something..." She muttered under her breath.

"That's not possible because we didn't tell her she could do that as a vampire," Kol whispered in her ear.

"Well, obviously she did!" She hissed back. "Because she doesn't give a shit now! She had to figure it out somehow!"

"I am so glad that I'm free," she said as she tugged on Klaus' bloody shirt and looked up at him through her lashes. "I killed so many of them tonight. It was extremely satisfying to kill Carlisle, and I thought I'd take my time with Eddie," she thumbed over her shoulder. "Seeing as I couldn't do that with Carlisle without getting smacked in the head a few times. I think he's enjoying himself, just like I enjoyed it when they tortured me."

"Bella, love, what did you do?" he asked softly as he looked her in the eyes. He was slightly torn about what he saw before him. His Bella was a sweet girl, afraid of her own shadow, and she hated violence, but this was the complete opposite, and it turned him on. Even her cursing sent sparks through his body. Yes, he wanted to fuck her. Who cares if it was next to the guy that abused her?

Bella sighed as she tugged on his belt, but he swatted her hands away. "I was freaking out, before and I said 'no more' and it was that easy to unlearn what you've taught me. To feel. To care. I thought it'd take days. Bonus points for not losing my voice!" She grinned as she turned back to Edward. "Ever wondered what it feels like to be burned alive? Well, sort of alive?" She cocked her head as she looked at him.

Jeri looked to Klaus and raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Da fuck?" She mouthed, wanting to know what she just heard.

"You don't want to do that, love," Klaus said soothingly and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Let us take care of him."

"No!" she growled as she pushed Klaus' hand off her shoulder and stepped over Edward's body again, so she was on the other side. She squatted down on the ground and picked up a finger before putting it in one of the holes she created. "How does that feel, Eddie? Do you like it? Does it turn you on? Oh, that's right, you don't feel anything, do you?" Sighing, she fumbled the lighter out of her pocket and let it run over her fingers as you'd do with a coin. "I want to bet you'll feel the flames, though."

She flicked the lighter and placed it where Edward's penis used to be before rising and taking a step back to admire the flames as they engulfed her former tormentor's body. "Oh, that's right, the appendages need to burn too!" She squealed in delight and started to toss the remains on the fire.

Klaus couldn't help but smile proudly at her. She was sadistic now, and it was such an arousing sight to behold.

Kol hit his brother on the head. "Stop thinking with your dick. She apparently turned off her humanity!"

"And?"

"And! Nik, as much as I'm all for fun and games, this is Bella we're talking about. Not some random teenage vampire from Mystic Falls giving our brother hell by pretending to be Katherine. You didn't care for Elena, only for her blood, but Bella… we have to fix this. Imagine what she'd feel like if we don't fix it, and she eventually turns herself back on and realizes the destruction, the killings, that she did. It'll destroy her. What if she'll revert to the Bella that was with them and we won't be able to fix her again?"

He couldn't help but sigh at the truth in his brother's words. "I see your point."

"And I'm here. Right in front of you!" Bella said, waving her hands. "I can hear everything you say, and you're not going to fix me because I'm not broken."

"Exactly," Klaus decided to side with Bella, for now. Sure, she'd remember the mayhem she caused, but what if he was able to control the situation? What if, now that she dared to leave the compound, he could show her the world? Or at least some of his favourite places and then figure out a way to get her back? "What do you say, love? Would you like to see some of the places I told you about?" Klaus walked around the Edward-kindling and gently put his arms around her before kissing the top of her head.

She sighed happily as she put her arms around him in return. "That would be great. Will there be killing involved?"

"If you wish."

"Then yes, take me wherever," she smirked as she looked up at him. "Can we have sex on top of the Eiffel Tower?"

"Oh, Paris! Yes, definitely. I'll take you to the Louvre and prove that they have one of my paintings there," he said as he started to guide her away from Edward and towards the edge of the Bayou. They were heading back to the compound for now. "How about a nice nap first and then we'll leave in the morning?"

"You are going to spell that study shut for the night," Kol muttered to Jeri. "Don't want her wandering around all night."

"Oh, you betcha," Jeri agreed as she muttered under her breath. This was going to be a fascinating time, and she wasn't quite sure if she liked it.


	25. Fix You

**A/N:** For Jessica, who is feeling a little under the weather right now.

* * *

He was overlooking the devastation from his window and how everyone bonded together in clearing up the mess. Jeri had sealed Bella and him into his chambers. He wasn't even able to go out to his balcony and Klaus felt as if he was being punished for Bella's indiscretions. Sighing, he turned to her as she stripped out of her clothes in the middle of the room and dumped the bloody clothes in the wastebasket.

"I'm going to take a shower, do you want to join me?"

"Shouldn't you go to bed, love? You've had an exciting day, and the sun's about to come up."

Bella shrugged. "Shower first and then sex, maybe?" She winked at him before walking towards the bathroom. She turned on the faucet, broke through the protection and set it for a little bit warmer and stepped underneath it, washing the day off her as she happily sighed before letting out a scream of agony.

Within a second, Klaus was standing in the bathroom, a frightened look on his face and ready to do whatever was needed to help her. Bella couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, your face! The look on your face! It's hilarious!" She hiccuped. "Oh, so funny!"

"That's not funny."

"Oh, stop being such a sour puss. Get undressed and join me. The water is nice," she grinned as she held out her hand for him. "Let's have some fun, Klaus. You and I, we can't go anywhere. Let's kill time before we go to France."

"We're not going to France, love," he said as he got out of his clothes and joined her, not really wanting to reward her for her trick to startle him - but there wasn't much else he could do at the moment. He could get angry with her, wait for her, give her the silent treatment, but that wasn't ideal. There was no doubt that Bella would become a handful.

"Why not?" She pouted as she stood on her tiptoes and put her arms around his neck. "You said we could."

"I would love to take you to France, but not like this."

"Not like this?" she blinked at him as she let go and crossed her arms over her chest as the water fell on them. "Not like what? There's nothing wrong with me. In fact, I feel normal. I'm doing great! I feel great! Do you like the version of me who feels too much? Who's afraid? Who panics easily?" She huffed as she grabbed the shampoo and started to wash her hair. "Such a whiney little bitch, that was me."

"Bella."

"What? Do you honestly like me more when I'm like that?"

Klaus sucked in a breath and put a strand of her wet hair behind her ear. "What makes you think that I don't love that side of you? I love all of you, Bella. All your little adorable quirks. I never pushed you to do things against your will but merely encouraged you to try new things and if you didn't want to do them, it's fine by me. I don't care if you don't set a foot outside this compound. In fact, it eases my mind to know that you're never far away."

"That's bull, how can someone as strong as you love something as weak as that?"

"Let's not have this conversation under the shower."

"I don't care, let's!" she said as she rinsed out her shampoo. "You deserve so much more than a broken doll, Klaus."

"You're not weak, Bella," he muttered as he looked at her, watching the soap move down her body, making it slightly difficult for him to concentrate. "If anything, you're the strongest person I know. You don't mind showing everyone that you have your weaknesses and in turn, exposing those weaknesses to other people. That requires strength."

"That's stupidity."

He smiled at that and nodded. "In some cases it is, but in your case? No. Absolutely not."

"You're being ridiculous now. This is a better version of me, and it's here to stay so if you don't want this, tough."

"Now who's being ridiculous? As I said, I love all of you."

Bella huffed. "Clearly you don't." she pushed passed Klaus and started to dry herself off. "I'm not in the mood anymore, for any of it. We're going to France."

"We can't, love. Jeri sealed us in."

"Yeah, just until everyone's had a good night's sleep, yes?"

"No. Until you're back to your normal self."

Bella growled at Klaus as her eyes flashed amber and then red. "Sucks to be you then."

~o.O.o~

On day two there was barely anything left of his study and his liquor. She hadn't said much. She was much behaving like a bored cat, seeing if he responded if she broke his things, but he'd just watched her. They were just things, after all, and if she felt as if she needed to do this, then so be it. Trinkets could be replaced.

Bella was on a drunken tirade as she was spewing lies about herself, perhaps she believed them. It hurt him more to hear that she had such a low opinion about herself than to see his hundreds of years old table get smashed into pieces. He made sure he was in her line of vision at all times. She needed to see that he wasn't going anywhere and that he wasn't stopping her because that's what she wanted. She wanted to be stopped.

Whenever Jeri or Kol threw in a few bags of blood, Klaus let her have as much as she wanted, he took whatever she left. The same with alcohol. She had polished off the bottles quite easily, and she was teetotal, but he hadn't stopped her. Nor had he taken a drink himself, even though he could use one.

In turn, she didn't turn violent against him but continued to smash his belongings instead. She had so much anger inside of her, and even though she switched off her humanity, deep down, she needed to rage. Killing her tormentors hadn't been enough. No wonder. "Let's break the bed," Bella said, turning on her heels, barely able to stand on her own feet. "Break the bed with me, Klaus."

"Are you sure?"

"I need to break the bed with you. I need it," she walked over to Klaus and pulled him down for a kiss. "Don't you want to?"

"Not while you're drunk."

"But I want you. I want you now, and I want us to break the bed. It's easy like that."

"No."

Growling, Bella's hands became claws, and she ripped up his shirt, drawing blood as her nails scratched his skin. "Please," she said as she started to open his pants.

"No," he said more forcefully. "You're drunk, and I'm not. Something has to change. Either you sober up, or I get drunk."

"Klaus!"

He dodged another attempt of her undressing him and watched her walk to the bed that she started to demolish. Leaning against the doorpost for a moment, he could see how unhappy she was, and at the moment, he didn't care. Just because she had her humanity switch off, didn't mean he had to do what she wanted.

He left her to destroy the bedroom to paint. She had tried to throw his easel out of the window, but it had bounced back and hit her straight in the head, causing her to throw it in the fireplace. It was quite the funny sight, but he was sure that Bella would think otherwise if she'd care about it.

She settled down somewhat on day three, giving up on her situation of being locked in. She had turned quiet and was sitting mostly with her back turned to him as she watched her handiwork with a proud look on her face. She had proven she was strong enough to destroy things. Would her old self do something like this? Nope. And it felt good.

There was a knock on the door before it opened, and Klaus turned around to see who it was. "Brother," he acknowledged him.

"Niklaus, Katerina has sent word through her contacts that she requires our assistance. I'm taking Kol to see what she needs," Elijah spoke quietly.

He growled in his hatred for the woman. "You will do no such thing."

"Niklaus, please," Elijah slightly smiled. "We've all buried the hatchet with her a long time ago. You released her from your anger towards her. If she requires our assistance, something has gone awry." Elijah paused then and almost snickered. "It's not as if you can stop me."

"Elijah!" Klaus called after his brother as he closed the door. Bella was on him the moment the door clicked in the lock. She had jumped into his arms and had put her arms around his neck.

"Who is Katerina?" Her voice sounded playful, but her face said otherwise.

"You're supposed not to care, you switched off your humanity," he said with a tease.

"Look around, Klaus. I destroyed your chambers out of boredom. I'd rather have had a dozen of people to sink my teeth into, but you, and your family, are pretty adamant about keeping me here. So, who's Katerina?" She dug her hands into his hair and scratched his scalp with her nails.

"An old friend," Klaus replied as evenly as he could. "She used to be a witch before she turned."

She looked at him for a moment and huffed. "That's not all, the way Elijah spoke about her, she means something to you. And him."

"She used to, a long time ago."

"Did you have sex with her?"

"Didn't we already discuss this, love?"

She pushed herself off of him and pushed him after landing on her feet. "We never finished discussing this."

Klaus sighed as he tiredly rubbed his eyes. "Love, we've been talking about this, of course, I've bedded other women, I'm an old vampire, I do have my needs. I don't understand why this angers you so."

"I am angry because you should have told me! You. Not your brother but you!"

"But it's irrelevant! Especially since you're you and-"

Bella growled as she advanced on him. She didn't want to hurt him, but she was getting very close to losing it. "Because I'm innocent?" She let out a huff. "I'm far from it, Klaus, and you know it. I don't even want to start counting the many men who have used my body for pleasure because it simply disgusts me, and I'd rather not think about it. But you know all about that, I told you!"

"Then what difference does it make?" His feet got caught on the mattress that was now on the floor, and he tripped backward, Bella immediately launched herself on top of him, straddling his waist.

"You didn't tell me."

"Kol told you."

"You didn't tell me," she growled as she ripped off his shirt and then sat up again, almost as if she thought of something. "This Katerina… it's not Katherine, is it?" When she saw the look on Klaus' face, she gasped. She got off of him and walked away from him, mood gone. "I'm going to kill Elijah! And Kol! They're not going to help her out, are they? She was one of them, Klaus!"

"I know that," he growled and walked after her. "That's why I wanted to come with so I could bring you her head, but you had to switch off your humanity and have us get locked up in here."

"Oh sure, blame me."

"I'm not blaming you! I've chased her for 500 years because she ruined my chance of breaking my curse sooner and even though I reluctantly forgave her after finding another doppelganger; I have no feelings for her."

She grabbed a piece of wood and threw it at one of the paintings on the wall, impaling the canvas on the wood. She winced when she saw what she had done; it had been a beautiful picture, and she now ruined it.

"You're acting very much like a spoiled brat right now. Or an angry cat."

"It's Katherine!"

"What did she do to you that's so worse than what they put you through?" He leaned against the doorpost as he saw her getting angrier. It was interesting to see how her turning off her humanity made her angry. Her walls, her defenses, were down because she didn't care, but there was so much anger. If there was one thing he could understand, was anger. She didn't get angry about him having a history with Katherine; she was focused on her so much that something must have transpired between them.

"Oh, no, you got it all wrong," she said with a dark, humorless laugh as she started to pace the room. "You had a chance to kill her, but you didn't. Instead, you gave her time to do whatever the fuck she wanted and up until Kol showed up, she was a regular in tormenting me!"

He sucked in a breath. He was wrong. So very wrong. Her anger wasn't driven at Katherine per say. It was about him and what he had failed to accomplish so long ago. "What would you like me to do about it?"

She let out a frustrated cry and headed for his latest creation that was standing near the open French doors for more access of sunlight and kicked against it. The painting bounced off the invisible wall that Jeri had put up and hit her straight in the face. "Nothing! You're stuck with me in here!"

"Exactly! Now let me look at that forehead of yours."

She allowed him to approach, but once he was close enough, she growled and bit his arm when he reached for her.

"Cute." He grabbed her tightly and pulled her against him. "Katherine won't ever hurt you again, Bella," he said, looking into her eyes as he tightened his hold on her. "If you desire to punish me for my hand in your torment, then do so."

"No," she murmured. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Why is that? You shouldn't be caring about hurting me or not."

"I bit you, didn't I?"

He smiled a bit at her attempt at nonchalance, eying her curiously. His fingers still tight around her arm, unyielding in his willingness to let her go. "And unlike everyone else, I am unable to be driven mad by the venom of your bite. We share the same gift in that. I wonder what you were truly attempting… what was going through your mind love..."

"I don't know, Klaus," she struggled against him.

"Are you jealous?"

Bella huffed. "I don't know what that is."

"Oh, I'm sure you do," he said with a smirk. "You're afraid of me leaving you, the thought of me having had intimate relations with other women over the course of my life. It angers you; it makes you wonder if I'll ever stray from you, and you do not want that." He grinned. "You're jealous."

She growled at him, her vampire visage bleeding out as she tried to pull away from him again. "Fix me."

"I thought you weren't broken love," he taunted, his eyes following hers. "You wanted to be stronger. Now you are."

"Fix me," she had her hands on his arms now, squeezing him as hard as he was squeezing her. "I don't want to feel this jealousy. Fix me."

Klaus frowned as he reached up to cup her chin to bring her face up to his. "You are not broken. You never were in my eyes Bella," he told her. "I don't know how to fix you the way you want me to. Remember? Kol was unable to compel you?"

"I am broken, I don't feel anything but anger and rage, and I don't want to feel like this. I want to go back to what I used to feel before they came. Fix me," she begged as she almost crawled into him, her lips on his skin, desperate. "Please."

He cupped her chin again and looked her in her eyes. "All you have to do is switch your humanity back on, Bella. Switch it on," he knew he couldn't compel her but he could try.

~o.O.o~

"Ugh, this place is a dump," Katherine's voice sounded. She was in the courtyard, Bella could tell that much. "It could use more color… and what the hell did you do to those tiles?"

Bella's eyes grew large in surprise before wanting to get up, but Klaus pushed her back with a knowing smile on his face with a finger pressed to his lips. Time to shut up and see what happens.

"We had the pleasure to entertain some rivals a couple nights ago," Elijah explained as he lead her to the breakfast room. "Come, Katerina, let's have some breakfast. It's not an easy task to negotiate with Niklaus on an empty stomach."

"Where is Prince Charming, anyway?" Katherine said, boredom apparent in her voice. "Usually he's the first one to greet me with an empty threat."

"He has his hands full at the moment, but you can join him shortly," Kol replied chipper. "In the meantime, I want you to meet Jeri."

"What's up?" Jeri smirked before kissing Kol. "You should have heard the ruckus last night. If there's anything not broken up there, it's a miracle."

"Someone had a bit of a tantrum?" Kol asked playfully before sitting down and taking a bread roll from the plate. "Do they require a nappy change?"

"That's enough, Kol," Elijah said soothingly as he helped Katherine sit down. "I'm certain Katerina does not want to hear about Niklaus' exploits."

"Oh, but I do!" Katherine said with a smirk. "He always chooses his miserable conquests so well; it's like watching a trainwreck happening."

"And what would your excuse be?" Jeri said, raising an eyebrow as she watched her from across the table. She was in on the plan that Kol and Elijah had concocted, but that didn't mean she had to be nice about it. "He did have a thing for you, as did stick-in-the-mud over here."

"And who are you?" Katherine pleasantly smiled at her. "One of Kol's whores?"

"Ladies, let's not insult each other over breakfast. There is plenty of time to do that later."

"I suggest we throw her into the pit now. See what Niklaus has to say about all of this," Jeri said, her eyes firmly fixed on the pocket-sized vampire. She wasn't much taller than Bella, but apart from the story they all knew, something about Katherine's appearance grated on her. "Let her have her negotiation with him on an empty stomach, I just lost my appetite for breakfast. Oh, hey!" she smiled brightly at Peter as he sauntered in. "Now is not the time."

Peter stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Katherine. "I can see that, my apologies," he wanted to turn to make his escape, but Katherine spoke up.

"Wait, you're not supposed to be here."

"Why not?" Peter replied, suddenly getting a hint of what the traditional vampires had been planning. It was not too late to save their plan. "Everywhere the prince goes, I go."

"Nah, he wouldn't be so stupid to come here."

"Why not? Everyone knows that the Mikaelsons have power, and the Prince is afraid."

Katherine was quiet for a moment before placing her napkin on her plate. "Does he have it with him?"

"Of course, Lady Katherine."

She smirked before getting to her feet. "I will negotiate with Klaus now, and then I'll want to meet Prince Edward. It's been awhile since I've seen him."


	26. Released

"I must say, Elijah, I'm surprised that you allow Edward Cullen to hideout in your vicinity," Katherine purred as she had put her arm through his while walking up the stairs. "Did he offer his money?"

"You know as much as I do that we do not require money, nor anything else he may have offered, Katerina," he said pleasantly. "But what I don't understand is why you call the girl, it."

"Oh, surely you have been graced with Edward's tendency to share it?"

Elijah sucked in a breath. "Fortunately, I can't say that I have."

"Fortunately? Oh, Elijah," she snickered. "It's absolutely fun. The best way to spend your time. Surely you need to unleash your inner beast every now and then?"

"I have my methods." He stopped when they stood in front of his brother's door. "Now, tell me, are you certain you wish to negotiate with my brother at this moment?"

"Yes, the sooner I get it over with, the quicker I can get to see my favourite past time."

"Have you never wished a better life for the girl? Or regretted your actions towards her?"

Katherine huffed. "Of course, but when in Rome…"

Elijah smiled at that and opened the door, revealing the devastation of Klaus' study. "Oh, Niklaus. What have you done?" He muttered, holding Katherine back for a moment. "Are you certain?"

"What's wrong with him? Is the moon acting up?"

"I am alright, Katherine," Klaus said as he stepped into their vision, fully dressed and spotless. Hands clasped behind his back. "What is it that you wish?" He looked over her shoulder towards his brother and smirked. It was incredible how Katherine believed his brother's ploy, she must be desperate.

"Oh, Klaus, I'm so scared," she said as Elijah let her go and allowed her to walk into the study. "There's a powerful vampire hunting for me, apparently I wronged him or someone he deeply cares about, and I seek your protection."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. I'm scared. You need to help me."

"I don't need to do anything, Katherine," Klaus spoke as he walked towards the door leading to his bedroom. "I released you from everything you owed me. I promised you that I would not pursuit you anymore for those indiscretions," he leaned against the doorpost and was surprised that his guest was quiet in the other room, probably biding her time. "Tell me, what have you done that has made you the target of someone?"

"I don't know."

"Poppycock."

"I don't know. It may have to do something with my dealings with your guest, Edward Cullen?"

Klaus raised an eyebrow. "Who said anything about me entertaining the Cullens?"

"But Peter… I saw him downstairs."

"Oh, of course. Yes, I'm entertaining a pair of Cullens and a Cold One. How could I forget?"

"I aligned myself with them for a while, until Kol showed up."

Klaus merely smiled at her, waiting for Katherine to dig her own grave even further. "And what did you do with them?"

"Oh, you know… they offered me protection from you… and from the crazy bitch from Mystic Falls… entertainment…"

He blinked at her. "I offered you your freedom, what have you been doing that might anger me?"

"I might have killed Lucien and Aurora… Granted, I didn't do it all by myself, but I wanted to take my revenge on you. For having murdered my family and ruin my life."

Klaus let out a low growl. Did she touch his first vampires? He now thought it was a bad idea to leave Katherine to Bella, he wanted her blood on his hands, now.

Bella moved to the ajar door and gently took Klaus' hand to calm him. She hadn't liked the idea that Klaus proposed, but this was going to be so much fun, that she went along with it.

"What was that?" Katherine's eyes shot to the door. "What are you hiding in there?"

"My entertainment," Klaus deadpanned and gently pulled a naked Bella from behind him. "Isn't she gorgeous?"

"Oh, so he does share!" Katherine said giddily. "You're not mad at me?"

"Of course I am, but I'm a changed man," he gently brushed a strand of hair out of Bella's face and sniffed her neck. "She smells delicious."

"She does, I remember," Katherine was almost salivating.

Bella looked up to Klaus with admiration in her eyes and then looked at Katherine, her expression shifting from loving to deadly.

"Bella, be a dear and welcome our guest," Klaus said as his gaze on Katherine now matched Bella's.

She sauntered over to Katherine, swaying her hips and licking her lips as she'd been taught. From the corner of her eye she saw Kol, Peter and Jeri pop up on the balcony, sharing a bucket of popcorn, and it was hard not to break character, this was fun. Looking at Katherine through her lashes, she dropped to her knees without breaking her gaze, her face morphing quickly as she sprung forward and then bit her leg.

"What the hell!" Katherine cried out, pushing Bella away before lifting her pants leg to see the bite mark. "Those are not human teeth!"

Grinning, Bella rose to her feet and grabbed Katherine's hair, pulling her back, so she had access to her neck to give her another bite. "Surprise!" Releasing her, she pushed Katherine to the other side of the room and looped her arm through Klaus' who had joined her side. "Can we please watch how she slowly goes insane? Please?"

"No, no, no!" Katherine screeched, seething in anger. "This is not happening! Edward!"

"He's not coming," Bella said as she picked a piece of meat out from between her teeth. "He was such a lovely bonfire. All that was missing were some marshmallows." Bella sighed as she looked up to Klaus. "I knew I forgot something!"

"And here I thought you had switched your humanity back on, love."

"Nah, your compulsion didn't stick either," she said with a shrug before letting go of Klaus and picking up a piece of wood. She quickly moved to Katherine, cornering her, and used the wood to nail her to the wall before pulling off Katherine's pants. "Oh, fancy underwear!"

"Bella, what are you doing?"

She fell to her knees and grabbed another piece of wood before looking over her shoulder. "She once thought it was funny to push a stick covered with barbed wire up my hole. Granted, Carlisle wasn't too happy about it, but I thought I'd return the favor."

Katherine let out a cry as she pushed herself off the wall. The wooden beam going through her body and she tried to make it to the nearest exit, only to be surprised that she couldn't leave. "Let me go!"

"Elijah? Did you forget to mention that Jeri made Klaus' chambers a supernatural playpen?" Kol asked disapprovingly.

"It may have slipped my mind, yes," Elijah replied, standing in the doorway with Jessica at his side. "My apologies, Katerina. You are beyond help and at the mercy of Niklaus and his mate, who, as it turns out, still has her humanity switched off." He had to admit, it hurt his heart to see his once beloved Katerina half undressed and in a right state. But she had it coming, and Elijah did not want to stop his brother this time. "I do wish you the best of luck."

"Elijah, please," Katherine begged. "Don't let them do this to me."

"You've made your bed, Katerina. It's time you've finally slept in it."

Klaus pulled Katherine back into the room and bit the other side of her neck. "Oh, we're going to enjoy watching you suffer."

"Hand me some popcorn," Bella, still naked, walked over to the window and looked at Kol, Jeri and Peter. "You get to share; we want some too."

"Shouldn't you cover yourself up, kitten?" Peter asked.

Bella looked down at herself and then looked him straight in the eye. "What? Don't you like what you see? Then turn around or avert your eyes, like Kol's doing. Popcorn." She held out her hand for some. "Or throw a human in here. We're hungry."

Kol smirked as he waved his bucket out of her reach. "You should turn your humanity back on, Mooner."

"Shut up, Kol."

"Klaus, please," Katherine was clinging on to him. "Don't do this, I'll be good! I promise! I'll be good, please, just give me your blood." She was about to take a bite when Klaus pushed her off of him. "Klaus!"

"You're pathetic," Klaus said as he turned around to fetch Bella a robe. She didn't mind her nudity much, but he didn't want his brothers ogling her either. Bella was still in front of the window when he returned and covered her before turning to Katherine. "You will suffer in silence, or I will feed you my blood, heal you and we'll do this all over again until you get the message, do you understand?"

"Fine," Katherine muttered, crossing her arms and sat down against the wall.

"Alright, I've had enough," Kol said as he jumped into the room from the balcony and grabbed Bella by her shoulders. "Poppet, you've had your fun. Now turn your humanity back on because frankly, I'm missing you."

"Are you mad!" Elijah cried out.

"Brother, I know what I'm doing."

"I sincerely doubt that," Jeri muttered. "Kol, you are an idiot every single day of the week. Couldn't you have taken one day off?!"

"Nope," Kol grinned as he looked at Bella. "Come on, poppet. I miss fooling around with you."

"Kol!" Klaus warned him.

Bella noticed Klaus' uneasiness with Kol's attention to her and bit Kol so he would let go of her. "Get away from me."

"Ah, come on!" Kol whined as he rubbed his arm. "We'll need to buy you a muzzle if you continue to do this."

She growled as her eyes flashed amber and Kol took a step back, holding his hands up in defense. They changed to red before she bit the palm of her hand and offered it to him. "Welcome to the nuthouse, we're so glad to have you."

He had blinked at her before he looked at Klaus for permission. Klaus gave a slight nod as he watched his brother drink his mate's blood. His brother was an idiot, but he hoped that he had a plan. Frankly, he welcomed the help. He was at a wit's end; he wanted Bella back too. And hopefully, she'd retain some of the things she discovered during her time without any fear.

"Hey, Klaus," Cami's voice sounded before the door opened, and she stepped inside. "Bella, Kol and… a loser for a vampire."

"Cami, this may not be the best time for a visit," he said, quickly moving between the fragile human and Bella.

"I think this is the best time for a visit, I'm starving!" Bella said, taking her hand away from Kol, pat him on the head as if he was a puppy and made her way over to Klaus and Cami. "You smell delicious, fresh," she licked her lips. "And your heart beats so fast… oh my, you're scared!"

"No, I'm not," Cami said as she looked up to Klaus. "As your therapist, I was shocked to hear Rebekah retelling the story of Elena and how she got her groove back."

Bella's smile that she had on the woman slowly fell as her eyes shifted into a displeased expression. "Who the fuck is Elena and why is this the first time I'm hearing about this bitch now?"

"Oh, Elena," Kol cooed, watching Bella's bitemark disappear. "Oh yeah, Klaus had it in for her alright. Just like Katerina here, he wooed her to break the curse of the sun and the moon, making him the biggest and baddest hybrid out there."

"Stop your lying Kol. You were boxed for that event," Klaus snapped at him.

"Elijah told me the story," Kol said nonchalantly. "Apparently, it was very cute."

"And you twist the facts to stir up more drama and make her more angry at me!"

"Oh get off it, brother," Rebekah's voice sounded as she leaned against the door. "We all know you have a special place in your heart for the little bitch of Mystic Falls. Or wait, was that the Hayley girl? Or maybe Caroline? I'm sorry, I could never tell your teenagers apart."

Bella began to growl deeply as she looked over her shoulder at him. "Hayley?"

"And then there was me," Cami spoke up, taking a step forward. "For a while, Klaus and I had a passionate relationship."

Not only Bella, but Klaus' head spun around to stare at her in shock. She considered Cami a friend before she was turned, and her eyes began to darken as the veins grew outwards. "You what?" she questioned lowly.

"Yeah, it mostly involved a lot of yelling from his side. But that doesn't matter now. All I wanted to say to Klaus that we needed to talk about how Elena got her groove back."

He was so overwhelmed with what was going on that it didn't actually click inside his mind yet. "Cami, what have you done?" He asked in a whisper, holding Bella's arm.

"She got her groove back with Matt, wasn't it, brother?" Rebekah coached him.

His eyes narrowed at his sister through the open doors, still slow to follow as his mate's growls grew with her anger as she started to pull away from him. "Are you seriously suggesting that I willingly allow Bella to be with someone else?! Are you out of your bloody mind?! No! Absolutely not!"

"He's quite slow, isn't he, sister?" Kol smirked. "Let's see… after Hayley and Caroline there was Cami… spending hours and hours on end in Klaus' presence, talking, painting, drinking. According to Marcel, there was some sexual tension between them."

"He was absolutely enamoured by Vivianne the last time we lived in New Orleans," Rebekah shared.

"He even raised her from the dead and married her. Didn't turn out so well for New Orleans or him, for that matter."

Bella managed to get free from Klaus' hold by breaking his arm and lunged for Cami, snapping her neck without flinching. She watched how Cami's body dropped to the floor and didn't know what to quite think about that.

"Congratulations, poppet. You just killed your human friend. Are you happy now?" Kol said from his spot away from Bella. "No more Cami for you. No more girls nights with Cami and the rest of the girls because Cami is gone." He moved over to Klaus to hold him back as he saw that it finally dawned on his brother what was going on.

"No…" Bella murmured as she looked at the heap on the floor. "I didn't- I didn't do this. I can't have…"

"But you did. You and your cold heart."

"Cami," Bella said as she started to sob and fell on her knees, pulling the lifeless body into her arms. "Oh no, I killed Cami!" She started to cry as she cradled Cami's body. "I'm so sorry; I'm so sorry!"

"Good job, Bella." Kol shot at her.

"No! This is unforgivable!" Bella pleadingly looked at Jeri. "My life for hers, please, please, can you do that?"

"No," Jeri said as she, too, hopped into the room and made her way over to her, showing Bella the ring that Cami was wearing. "You didn't kill her, Bella," she said kindly. "Well, you did, but she'll come back."

"Promise?" Bella turned into Jeri and put her arms around her. "Promise?"

"I promise," she said gently as she helped Bella to her feet. "Kol will make sure she'll be comfortable when she gets back on her feet, in her body. But first, we all are going to leave this room, apart from Katherine and then you and Klaus can talk in your room, okay?"

Bella nodded and watched as Kol scooped Cami up from the floor and walked out the door. It was then that Bella noticed the destruction of the room and knew that she had done that. She shot Klaus a fearful look, wondering if he was mad at her, but she couldn't see anything on his face that indicated that he was. Letting out a sigh of relief, she allowed Jeri to take her out of the room.

There were fresh clothes and food in her room and waiting for Klaus to come in was agonizing. She could hear him yell at his siblings before he simmered down and thanked them, and all she could do was wait. She felt too nauseous to eat now. She had killed Cami in her rage. She had taken care of Edward, killed him proper. Actually killed him. It wasn't that he didn't have it coming, but she had done it without hesitation, and that scared her. She had ruined some of Klaus' paintings. She had been mean. Angry. Jealous.

She looked out the window onto the street and smiled. She had learned, though, that the outside wasn't that scary and that she wanted to go on a new adventure, have Klaus show her, New Orleans. There weren't monsters in the sewers or behind the bushes. She was the monster, and she had proven to herself that she was strong enough to be on top of the food chain, like Klaus. As an equal.

When the door opened, she didn't hesitate to run into Klaus' arms and put her arms around him. "My behaviour over the last few days is unforgivable."

He held her close for a moment before pulling back to look into her eyes, to assure himself that it was indeed his Bella that was inside her. Smiling, he shook his head. "Nonsense. What you've done is something that many vampires have done at one point or another. There has been periods that I've let my temper go unchecked for a decade and blood ran in the streets like glorious rain. You have done nothing to be ashamed of Love."

"I didn't mean to do it; it just happened when I panicked."

"We realized that soon after, especially since we had yet to explain that it was an option to you. For you to discover it accidentally, was a shock to all of us, but you are back now, and that is what matters," he assured her as he pressed his lips to her hairline.

"My behaviour has been appalling. I am really sorry; I didn't mean to be jealous or angry for things that happened in your past. It's the past."

Klaus smiled at her. "I'd be upset if you weren't. I admit I've made questionable choices in the past, and many are still walking the earth. I promise you, Bella, that none of them hold a candle to how I see you. I am yours, and you are mine. In fact, I believe that this little mark that you have gifted me this week indicates as much," he said smugly as he pulled at the collar of his shirt to reveal the scar she left on him.

She smiled as she breathed in his scent. "Yes," she said with a slight giggle when the memory resurfaced of that night. "That was incredible." She looked up to him, adoration in her eyes. "Will you take me out to dinner tomorrow night? Have we deserved that?"

He raised an eyebrow as he reared back in surprise. "Out? Beyond the doors?" he clarified.

"Out," she nodded in confirmation. "You can show me New Orleans and if I'm doing well, well… you promised me sex on top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris so…"

"That I did, didn't I? Well then, dinner tomorrow it is. I think I have just the place in mind…" he started to say.

"Oh! I passed a great smelling restaurant when I was dragging Edward with me. He had to read the signs, and he wasn't happy about it. Fucker should have taught me to read. But it's called Alfredo's."

Klaus couldn't help but to laugh heartily as he pulled her closer. "If that is where you wish to go, then I will be pleased to accompany you there…" His ears picked up light discussions in Kol and Jeri's room, where they had taken Camille. "Cami has woken up."

"I'll apologize to her later," she said as she kicked against the door to have it closed and pulled Klaus towards the table that was set with goblets of blood and all of Bella's favourite food. "I'm starving, what about you?"

He looked over the arrangement and let out a sigh before turning his eyes to her. "I don't see anything on the table that particularly fancies my taste, but there is something underneath that robe that satisfies my hunger much more…"

Bella let out a sigh of relief. "Oh good, because I was in the mood for something long and salty and... spunky."

~The End~

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you so much for reading! This is the final chapter, there won't be any more. I'll be releasing deleted scenes/bonus content on my website when I feel like it, but that's really it!

So what's next? Well, I happen to work on a new fic called "Beautiful Soul" and I'll start posting it either in December or in January in the New Year. It will also be a Klaus/Bella so watch this space! Or you know... add me to your alerts so you'll be uhm... alerted?

xxx Buggy


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